Old Friends and New Alpacas, East Aurora NY (Sept. 26-28, 2014)

The Place

There are few things more wonderful than seeing old friends.  We spent several fabulous days with our good friends Bill and Gail at their home in East Aurora NY, outside of Buffalo.  Russ and Bill first met each other in the Coast Guard about 44 years ago.  They were skiing together when Bill met Gail.  When we started dating among the first things Russ did was introduce me to Bill and Gail.  Since we live so far away from each other now, we haven’t spent much time together over the last 20 years.  Yet, it felt like we had seen each other just the weekend before.  

We stayed in their enormous 1880 house that they have lovingly renovated over the past 30 years.   Next weekend it will be on the East Aurora Home Tour!

The Adventures

We went down to the lovely, newly resurrected Buffalo waterfront and Buffalo River.  Then we went to the Anchor Inn where the chicken wings known everywhere else as “Buffalo” wings were invented and first served.  They were delicious!

We spent the day touring hot spots in East Aurora.  They showed us their store, The Computer Store/Business Technologies LLC, where they set up technology and networking solutions for small businesses, assist individual users with computer problems, and sell computer supplies.  We went to Viglers five and dime down the street, a rabbit warren of store fronts crammed with every imaginable kind of product.  

We also went to the "Made in America Store" where everything in the story is made in America out of American materials.

A highlight of the day was the visit to the open house at the Alpaca farm. Such lovely, gentle, photogenic animals, with very long eyelashes.  In one pen there were 4 babies called “cria” (pronounced cree-ah) and their Moms!  

Artisans showed us how they card and spin the Alpaca hair into yarn, and how they make felt out of Alpaca hair.  

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are certain that it won’t take 20 years to get together again.  In fact, we are cooking plans to meet up in New England next summer! 

Admiring Shale, Lake Erie State Park [Lake Erie] (Sept. 26, 2014)

Our motor home is the one on the left. 

 Our campsite overlooks beautiful Lake Erie.  The view from our living room window is breathtaking; the lake framed by trees on the cusp of Fall colors.

Have some view with your morning coffee!

 

Our campsite from the water

This part of the shoreline of Lake Erie is composed of shale.  At least we think it is shale (note to self: take a Geology class).  The beach is composed of flat rounded pebbles of shale, and in some places plates of shale can be seen where the sand and pebbles are not present. 








This morning dawned bright and still, so we took the kayaks out on the glassy, calm lake.  It was almost surreal, floating above plates of shale 6 feet below us in the crystal clear water.    The shoreline is composed of beautiful cliffs of rock.  It was a memorable kayak paddle on an absolutely gorgeous day.

We are short on words and long on pictures.  Enjoy!

Sunset Kayak, Lake Erie State Park, Brocton NY (Sept. 25, 2014) [Lake Erie]

Our last trip to Lake Erie in July was to an urban area around Cleveland OH.  This time, we are along the shores of Lake Erie in the New York Concord grape district.  Lake Erie crosses Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.  And they call it the smallest Great Lake!

This morning we left central Pennsylvania and took back roads through the mountains and, for a few hours, Allegheny State Forest.  The scenery was beautiful.  At altitudes up to 2,250 ft above sea level we saw emerging fall colors and blue skies.  The roads were narrow, windy and hilly; steep ups and steep downs.  The special scenery was worth the extra effort to drive them. 

Lake Erie State Park is an older, well-manicured park on cliffs overlooking the Lake.  Our campsite is right on the Lake.  We spent some time walking the beach and exploring the park.  What a special place!  It was a mild, sunny day with almost no winds.  So we inflated the kayaks and took them out to watch the sunset from the water.  What a beautiful view!  Enjoy the photos!

Great Lakes Trip Part Deux - Push Off, Sept. 24, 2014

So, we are hitting the road again, this time to explore Lake Ontario and then celebrate Leslie and Natalie's Wedding in Toronto.  En route we will visit our old, dear friends Bill and Gail near Buffalo, and then travel East along Lake Ontario, crossing over into Canada near the 1000 Islands area.

Tonight we are in the lovely Woodland Campground north of State College, Pennsylvania.  Yes, we saw the first signs of autumn on our drive north - including this lovely tree turning yellow in our campsite.

As we headed north this morning, we stopped at Beckley's Camping Center in Thurmont MD where almost exactly a year ago we bought the ShoreXplorer.  We visited with Dan Zboyan (the worlds most helpful salesman) who gave us this very cool personalized lantern.  Yes, that is our picture on the front! 


Very cute!