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What I Did on My Summer Vacation – continued
by Kathie Lambert
Tuesday June 25, 2002
I have no clue what we are going to do today. I was the first up at 0730. After
a shower, I took the laptop on the porch and wrote for a while. Everyone had
said that they hadn't seen any squirrels. Finally saw one this morning. They are
small and red. Eventually, Bill & Doodlepunk got up to take a doggie walk,
have a doggie breakfast, then both went back to bed. Dave got up and took his
infra-red camera down to the dock to take pictures.
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At some point, I looked at a window and noticed an interesting shape that I hadn't noticed. There was a bat in the window, sandwiched between the screen and the storm window. We have no idea how the critter got there. Before we left for the day, we closed the window.
I suppose every trip needs its own Hike from Hell. Today was ours. After a
very late start, we ventured to Watkins Glen to hike the Gorge Trail. They tout
this as the Grand Canyon of the East. The trail winds along the bottom of the
gorge next to the stream. At several places there are wonderful waterfalls,
including a couple where the trail goes behind the falls. The trail is totally
man made with what seems to be a zillion steps. Mind you, it's now afternoon on
a very hot, hazy, humid summer afternoon. I was not looking forward to the
misery I was going to encounter, but wasn't about to miss the hike. Joyce pushed
the baby in the stroller. The steps proved challenging for her. Going up steps,
it was usually a 2 person effort. Dave had his large format camera and was
taking pictures as he went. I snapped a few with my digital camera. The twins
just ran all over the place; we made sure they were always in sight of a grown
up. Mom & Aunt Bernice usually brought up the rear. At the Central Cascade,
Joyce took one look at the next flight of steps and said "No more," and sat
down. Mom & Aunt Bernice decided that was a good idea. The rest of us
continued up the trail. I did say it was a miserable hot sticky day. I soaked
every inch of clothing I was wearing, that's not counting the fact that I took
every chance I could to get wet in the falls. Actually, I was working on a very
nice case of heat exhaustion. At Rainbow Falls, I got wet, turned around &
went back down the trail in search of a cold spot. When I got back to Central
Cascade, Joyce, Mom & Aunt Bernice were still there. After a while, we
headed back down the trail. The rest of the gang eventually caught up.
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Bill & Tracy couldn't come up the Gorge Trail. They brought the dog & dogs are not allowed on the trail for good reason. They went to the next park entrance where dogs were allowed. They hiked on trails down to the gorge. The trail system in the area is extensive and resembles a spider's web. They saw us several times and shouted at us from bridges over the gorge, but we couldn't hear them.
When we arrived in the parking lot, Joyce & Tracy pulled up. We were in the process of finding anything cold & wet to drink. We then went to the portion of the park where Bill & Tracy had been. It's a wonderful park with lots of picnic benches in the shade, a playground for the kids, and a large swimming pool. We ate lunch and cooled off.
When we got home, we checked the window for the bat and didn't see it. Many folks were relieved that the bat was gone. I immediately jumped into the shower. The water comes directly from Lake Keuka, which is cold. The water in the shower wasn't much warmer than the lake and it felt so good.
The rest of the afternoon & dinner were quite tedious. The baby really wailed and Joyce & Dave were content to let her scream. This wasn't too bad in the afternoon when she was upstairs, but having a screaming baby wail in your ear during dinner is quite another story. I finished my dinner post haste, grabbed my book and headed for the dock. I know my behavior was on the rude side, but wasn't nearly as rude as what I wanted to say. Beating a hasty retreat was the best of the bad options. It had cooled down and there was a pleasant breeze. After a while, Bill & his dog joined me. They couldn't take the noise either and decided that I did the right thing. Eventually, everyone was on the dock, well almost everyone. Bec & Gina did a short paddle in the canoe. Later, Dave & the twins went & Aunt Bernice joined them. At 83, this was Aunt Bernice's first time in a canoe.
In the evening, we decided to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou, a movie
based on Homer's Odyssey. Joyce had seen the movie, so she was upstairs
making sure the twins took a bath. Bec & Gina were upstairs getting Gina
ready for bed. Shortly after the movie started, Tracy went to the bathroom. A
few minutes later, the bat made a return appearance, this time flying through
the house. The dog snapped at the bat so I grabbed her and held on tightly —
she loves snapping at bugs and to her, the bat was just a big bug. Tracy stepped
into the living room just as the bat fluttered past her head. She let out a
blood-curdling scream, hit the deck, and slammed the door. At this point, I was
nearly rolling on the floor with laughter, but knew that I couldn't do it now.
Later, Joyce said that she couldn't remember a portion of the movie that would
elicit a scream and a lot of commotion, so she figured something was happening
but didn't know what until she came downstairs. Bec & Gina walked downstairs
in time to have the bat flutter past. Gina immediately went into hysterics and
it was all Bec could do to keep the kid calm — Bec wasn't helping matters by
tying back her hair so that the bat wouldn't get tangled in it (I really thought
she was smarter than that). I told Bill & Dave to open the front & back
doors. Mom was holding the baby in a rare quiet moment and Aunt Bernice refused
to move. I was strategizing about herding the bat to the door or safely
capturing it. I was still holding the dog, who desperately wanted to chase the
bat. I told the guys to find a small trashcan and a newspaper or magazine. I've
captured birds by letting them fly around until they are tired and land, then I
put a trashcan over them and slide a newspaper between the trashcan and the
floor, or what or whatever. I figured the same strategy might work with a bat.
The guys couldn't find a suitable can, when all of a sudden Tracy opened the
door, threw a trashcan into the living room and slammed the door again. It was
all very comical for me at the time & for others later. Eventually, the bat
found the open door and flew out. At which point, everyone came back into the
living room. It was pretty hysterical, but I had to stifle the laughter because
so many others were practically traumatized. Later, Tracy said that she was
listening carefully from behind the closed door and I was the only one making
any sense. I guess I really am unflappable. Talk about an America's Funniest
Videos moment, this was one, if only we had a video camera.
Oh yes, the movie. We started it over. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it. It's a total scream.
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
We're in for another outrageously hot, humid day. Gee, I could have stayed
home and enjoyed this kind of weather. I was really hoping for something more
comfortable.
My siblings decided it was time to rent a boat and spend the day playing on the lake. Not my kind of fun. Mom, Aunt Bernice, & I headed off to explore beautiful downtown Hammondsport — all 1 block of it. We spent some time cruising around the south side of Main St., where most of the houses are. The first few blocks are almost exclusively Victorian houses. As you get further away (another block or 2), the houses change to non-descript turn of the century, to the Bungalow/Craftsman style. It's easy to tell that there hasn't been much in the way of new construction since before WW2. We explored the shops along the town square, mostly catering to tourists. Lunch at a local pub. After lunch, we walked outside to find a thunderstorm. It rained the rest of the day, on and off. We ducked into a couple of antique stores, then we found something truly interesting, a quilt shop. The 3 of us love to sew, so this was an unexpected pleasure. After the first round of storms moved through, it was much cooler.
We got back to the house about the same time the rest of the group was finishing their day of fun on the water. Eventually, everyone cleaned up and we headed up the road to a restaurant for dinner. It still stormed once in a while. All evening we lost electricity for a couple of minutes at a time. Gina & the dog were both terrified of the thunder. The rest of us didn't really care. If the wind hadn't been blowing rain onto the porch, most of us would have been sitting on the porch watching the lightening light up the lake.
Thursday, June 27, 2002
Looks like another scorcher. Doodlepunk & I have already had an
adventure. We settled down on the front porch at 0730. I was typing away when a
chipmunk scampered onto the porch. Terriers were designed to hunt such
creatures, so Doodlepunk was off in a flash. She can move quicker than greased
lightening. Took me several minutes to grab her and toss her into the house.
Later, a chipmunk jump d onto the porch to investigate the peanut shells. Since
the house rules (we didn't
make them, the owner did) prohibit smoking on the front porch (no we don't smoke, it's the principle of the matter), we decided to make another kind of mess — eating peanuts. We prefer the salted in the shell variety. We try to be clean, but there's bits all over the porch.
Weather forecast was for the 3 H's of summer with the added bonus of thunderstorms. The group decided to head to Corning to visit the glass museum. After a very late start (don't even think of getting this group on the road until after high noon), we got to the museum around 1 or 2. This was entirely too late for my liking, especially since I could have spent all day in the museum. It's a fabulous way to spend the day. Lazy rest of the day.
Friday, June 28, 2002
Last night the group decided to hang out at the house all day. Hmm, not
great. Mom & I decided to do a road trip to Ithaca to see Sapsucker Woods at
Cornell. We were on the road by 0700, much too late for my tastes, but Mom does
not do mornings. Aunt Bernice came with us; she doesn't do mornings either.
We had no idea how to get to Sapsucker Woods, so I drove onto the main campus and stopped at an information booth. When I asked where Sapsucker Woods was, he said "It's nowhere near here." I replied, "Why am I not surprised." He provided a map and great directions for how to get there.
Since Mom has never stepped foot onto an Ivy League campus, we drove around the place. It's beautiful. Eventually, we wound our way down to Sapsucker Woods. The folks at the visitor's center are wonderful. One of the trails is temporarily closed due to construction of the new Ornithology building, which is roughly in the same shape as the logo. We wandered around most of the other trails. It was getting late in the day (it was after 0900) and the foliage is totally leafed out, so we didn't see much. The Wood Thrushes & Red-eyed Vireos were some of the only things we heard. Ovenbirds were singing once in a while. You couldn't spit without hitting a robin. The Common Yellowthroats were doing their northern call, which is slower than in MD. The feeders at the visitor's center were very busy. Lots of Black-capped Chickadees. The chipmunks and gray squirrels really liked the feeders.
It figures, the last day we're here and the weather is drop dead gorgeous — cool & dry — it's the type of weather I had expected all week. It felt good to take something other than a cold shower. I'm finally feeling civilized. Three years ago, we were at Hatteras, NC for a week. I expected it to be hot & muggy; it was damp even inside the air-conditioned beach house. Everything was clammy, but this was to be expected on the NC coast in June. I didn't expect to find the same exact conditions in NY only in a house with no AC. I was not a happy camper. But today is gorgeous and we're making the most of it.
Finally got into the lake. The lake water is COLD — probably in the high 60's. Wading in was not an option, so I just walked off the end of the pier. The initial shock is startling to say the least. After you're in it for a few minutes, it's really not that bad. The girls had the housetop ourselves for a while; the guys went to a local museum dedicated to the works of Glenn Curtis, an early aviation pioneer.
Best meal of the week was tonight — grilled salmon fillets. Mmm, Mmm, Good. Spent most of the evening cleaning up & packing.
Saturday, June 29, 2002
Got up early enough to watch the sun rise over the mountains on the other
side of Keuka Lake. Very nice. Sat down and did the bird total. I'm not sure how
many species we saw, rather heard, on this trip. It was at least 43 — I
started the trip with 60 species in NY, now I have 103.
Yippee — another state over 100! I have lists for 31 states — 12 are over 100, 3 are over 200, and 1 over 300 (TX of course).
Check out time was 1000 and we were out of the house at about 1015 — on time for this crew. We headed for Ithaca to visit the Taughannock Falls State Park. The waterfall at this park is taller than Niagara. It's a short (less than a mile) hike from the parking lot and it's nearly flat. One of the rules is "No swimming." Right. Everyone & his brother were in the stream and many folks were cavorting in the large pool at the bottom of the falls. Did we violate the rules? You bet we did! The kids were playing in the stream. Joyce, Bec, & Gina took their shoes off & were wading around. Bill & Tracy walked carefully to keep their shoes dry (a futile effort) while the dog romped in the water. I noticed Bank Swallows flying around. At some point, my brother, asked "what are those birds doing on the rocks?" I looked up and saw the Bank Swallows flying in & out of crevices in the cliff face.
At 1530, we were finally on the road for home. Arrived home at 2200 and fell face first into bed.
Tomorrow — Laundry & lots of it.
Copyright © 2002 by Kathie Lambert and Richard L. Becker