Next day we started our trip north to Cayuga Lake State Park, our first campground.  Cayuga Lake is the largest of the Finger Lakes, and there are many wineries between Ithaca and our campsite.  We stopped at four of them for tastings, and we purchased many wines.  Cornell University developed a grape for the region which the make an excellent semi-dry called Cayuga White.  The area also grows a lot of Riesling.  We also stopped at Taughannock Falls on our way north.


Taughannock Falls


Thirsty Owl Winery


Taking time to smell the flowers, or what happens when your wife has had one tasting to many!

After that last picture, we grabbed some lunch at another vineyard, but decided to skip the tasting as we had enough for one day!  The rest of that day involved eating and setting up camp.  The next day we went to a couple more vineyards, the first one being Swedish Hill.  I only wanted to go there because of the name, but it turned out to be our favorite!  Everything we tasted was excellent!  So we bought a lot of wine from that place, and then conitnued to two more places, located on the east side of Seneca Lake.  The last place we went to, Wagner Winery, also had a brewery attached, so that was a welcome relief from the copious amount of wine we had tasted.  I did the beer tasting, and then we decided to rest there awhile and eat.  The rest of Monday involved "tacos in a bag" in a bowl and campfires.


Tasting at Swedish Hill


Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars


Tacos in a bag...er bowl, with our Growler of beer from Wagner.

Tuesday was the day we went to Niagra Falls.  28mpg round trip!! My wife drove there and I drove back, so if she drove round trip, it might have been even higher (our if my engine splash pan was installed).  This same car nets us high 16s here in the city.  We didn't make it over to the Canadian side unfortunately, but that just means we will have to return at some point


The American Falls


Another shot of the American Falls


Horseshoe Falls


American Falls looking towards the Horseshoe Falls in the distance

After that, back to the campsite for a steak dinner and wine for our last night at Cayuga Lake.  We loved the Finger Lakes.  Can't wait to go back.


Our lodging at Cayuga Lake State Park


172, a fine site


ICE CREAM!!!  We thought we left the ice cream trucks in Brooklyn...


Fire...

The 4th is when we travelled from Cayuga Lake to Lake George, in the Adirondacks.  It started sprinkling as we were striking our campsite, and conitued to rain basically the entire 4 hour drive.  We did get 26mpg with our fully loaded car though!  We set up camp at Roger's Rock, which is basically at the north west corner of Lake George.  That night we were supposed to take a fireworks cruise on the Lake.  We had a 45minute+ drive down Route 9N, a great road, from our campsite down to the Village of Lake George, located on the southern end of the Lake.  But I screwed up and printed out directions to the wrong steamship company.  I'm an ass.  So we ended up standing on the edge of the lake, in the rain (well, the rain stopped just in time for the fireworks) to watch the show.  It was cool listening to the echo of the explosions from the mountains that surround the lake.


setting up my elaborate tarp rigging system


creative use of bungee cords


Me, all set for watching fireworks in the rain

The next day was a beautiful day.  We explored the east part of Lake George, and also stopped at Fort Ticonderoga, the location of the first victory in the Revolutionary War.  It was at one point a French fort also, called Fort Carillon at that point.


a beach on the east side of the lake


Same beach, two views


Some old cannons at Fort Ticonderoga


Looking through the window at the fife and drum group

We were scheduled to stay until Saturday.  We woke up Friday, the weather seemed to be perfect.  We took a drive back down to the Village of Lake George and had some lunch, and then the rain rolled in.  I checked the weather forecast on my Q, and it was telling me thunderstorms for the rest of the day, into the night, and even into the early morning.  We decided to head back up to the campsite, pack up our car, and head back to Brooklyn early.  It was a good choice.  By the time we had made it onto I-84 south, visibility was less than 100 feet, lighting all around with thunder that was a second (at most) behind.  Quite an awesome storm, but Melissa was a little freaked out.


Campsite 233

All in all, a most excellent vacation.  I've lived in New York for six years, but had never made it north of the Catskills.  This state is beautiful!  I am glad we took a trip like this, and I couldn't be more proud of the car.  276 thousand miles, and many more to come!