Arriving in Nazareth, Pennsylvania

We arrived at Lee's brother's home in Nazareth, PA today.  Jay and Peggy have graciously are allowing us to live in their driveway for a couple of weeks while we visit all the Pennsylvania family.  We hope that the damage to the fifth wheel won't make us into really pesky relatives that stay way too long!

While we are here we hope to get together with as many of the Pennsylvania family as we can as it has been awhile since we've seen them.

Peggy

Jay

Oops!

We packed up today and left Sned-Acres Campground to head to Jay & Peggy's driveway in Nazareth, PA. We were happily driving south on highway 96, a rather narrow and hilly state highway with narrow shoulders, when we spotted a sign warning of a 12-foot 6-inch underpass seven miles ahead. We began considering options of how to avoid the underpass. After realizing there was no easy route around the restriction, we began looking for a place to turn around to go back to Ithaca where we could take an alternate route. Places to turn around in our sixty-foot RV were few and far between so when we spotted a church at the top of a hill, we decided their parking lot would likely be big enough. Lee pulled up the driveway and turned around and, after reviewing a map, pulled back out onto highway 96 toward Ithaca. He was a little distracted and cut the corner short resulting in the back right corner of the rig dragging on the driveway. This shredded the corner of the fiberglass end cap and pulled it about two inches back, crumpling the fiberglass side panel and the small compartment that carries our leveling blocks. Needless to say, we were not happy campers when we discovered the damage some miles later while stopped for a picnic lunch at a roadside rest area.

This incident may well delay our trip to Texas for the winter--not good.

Sodus Point Lighthouse

After visiting Chimney Bluffs, we headed to the Sodus Point Lighthouse which is on Sodus Point on Lake Ontario, New York. The original lighthouse has been replaced by a modern skeleton tower which is, of course, disappointing.  There is also a 2 1/2 story limestone keepers quarters on the property.  It was built in 1871 and is currently used as a museum.  The pier and shore light served simultaneously from 1834 until 1901.

For a history of this lighthouse, see:  http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=305

Chimney Bluffs State Park

Today we headed for Chimney Bluffs State Park is which is located in the town of Huron in Wayne County, New York on Lake Ontario, on the eastern shore of Sodus Bay. We first visited the actual park site and walked along the paved trail to the lake edge to view the Bluffs from a distance.

Chimney Bluffs State Park Entrance

Lake Ontario

We then traveled to the East Bay road to get to the beach access to the actual Bluffs.

Chimney Bluffs looks like a mountain landscape somewhere in the Southwest, however, the bluffs are not granite or even stone. They are made of plain old dirt and sand. They have been formed by wind and rain and it is amazing that they are still standing today. The sculpted spires along the shore make a very dramatic landscape. We followed a sort-of grass and rock trail which led us to the beach.

Very Clear Water

The beach is beautifully vibrant and is made up of a collection of stones that have been ground and polished by glaciers and deposited over thousands of years. I would have loved to take a few home but I didn't. I wouldn't suggest going barefoot on this beach as there isn't a lot of sand - mostly rocks that keep you watching where you are walking!

According to the pamphlet given by the park, smugglers used the area as a landing point while transporting liquor from Canada during Prohibition.

Sauders' Amish Market

Our first stop today was Sauders Store in Seneca Falls.  It is an genuine Mennonite country store that is packed with fresh produce, bulk packaged goods, Pennsylvania German meats and cheeses along with specialty products for the Mennonite community.

The baking and spice sections of the store are extensive and inexpensive.  There were shelves and shelves of things that you really would never see anywhere else - from a spectrum of sanding sugars, bags of dried cherries, apricots and mangos, to gummy candy anythings. They also carry local produce, hard to find canning and preserving supplies, as well as a huge variety of spices, cereals, soup mixes, and the list goes on. It is really a treat to visit this store and we didn't leave empty-handed!