Women's Rights National Historic Park, Buttermilk Falls, Verona Beach SP

Sunday, 21 July

After two nights dry camping in above normal (for this region) warm temperatures, we elected to treat ourselves to breakfast at a diner. We selected the Railroad Crossing Diner in Dundee, NY, based on location (along the planned route for the day) and reviews. A small place, probably only 10 or 12 tables, it was a 4-calendar diner for sure (“Blue Highways” by William Least Heat-Moon: https://www.chowhound.com/post/wall-calendars-good-cafes-blue-highways-431488). The server knew most everybody, suggesting most people eating there this morning were local or regulars. One of the cooks in the back came out to chat with the Mennonite family seated behind us. We were clearly the visitors. Great food, good prices, and a great treat for a Sunday morning.

After breakfast, we continued north to Seneca Falls, NY to visit the Women's Rights National Historic Park. Using Google satellite map, we were able to park in a lot across the street with ease. We were surprised to learn that this weekend the National Historic Park was celebrating “Convention Days”, July 19th-21st, celebrating the revolutionary 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention of the same July dates. The National Park Service had numerous programs scheduled as part of the anniversary celebration.

We started with the “Dreams of Equality” film in the Visitor Center theater. Our visit to the Susan B. Anthony House a few days ago provided but a glimpse into the 171 years of progress of women’s rights. After the film, we looked at the exhibits in the Visitor Center. There was almost no mention of Susan B. Anthony, highlighting the many pioneers willing to stand up for their beliefs as unpopular as they were at the time.

We then did the 11 o’clock Ranger-led tour. The tour with Ranger Kyle started in the Visitor Center among the life-sized bronze statues with a brief introduction to the five women who changed the course of history in 1848.

Leaving the Visitor Center, we briefly stopped at the Water Wall which had the Declaration of Sentiments (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Sentiments) and the names of the 68 women and 32 men who signed it engraved on the wall. We were all encouraged to touch the wall, making it a very tactile experience.

The tour then moved to the Wesleyan Chapel. We learned the history of the chapel (built as a venue for hosting activist speakers), its role in the 1848 Convention, how the building was used and modified over the years, and the restoration of the building since becoming part of the National Park Service in 1980. Its last use before becoming part of the National Park Service was as a laundromat.

The Convention Days had lots more on the program, but we decided to contemplate what we learned in nature at the nearby Silver Creek Golf Course in Waterloo, NY. The two other items on our list for Seneca Falls were not do-able. The Seward House Museum (Secretary of State in Lincoln and Johnson administrations) had the entire second floor closed due to the excessive heat in this region (we noted the Women's Rights National Historic Park Visitor Center had auxiliary fans and air conditioners running). And the Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry, on the canal and across the street from the Women's Rights National Historic Park, is closed on Sundays and Mondays - leaving us more reasons to revisit the area again in the future.

The golf course on-line tee time system suggested we could get on mid-day, so we just showed up. After warming up on the range, we headed out. Initially, we were behind two groups who were really, really bad at hitting stationary golf balls with instruments ill-designed for the purpose. To their credit, both groups let us through promptly. We were both pleased to hit good shots as the audience watched.

Kris started strong and finished the front nine one shot over par, leading at the turn. The back nine, we bumped into the back of the tournament, and the pace became painfully slow. We still played well, with Darrell gaining a stroke on the back nine, but falling short on the day as Kris finished 7 over par. He took some comfort that 11 out of 13 of his drives were over 200 yards and he did not lose any balls to the woods or water hazards. Most of Kris’ drives were over 160 yards as well.

Sprinty then headed to the nearby Dunkin Donuts for a caramel frozen coffee, a welcome cold beverage in a hot day, although not as hot as yesterday. We then headed to Sampson State Park in Romulus, NY for the night.

Sampson State Park is located on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake, one of the 11 Finger Lakes. With the outbreak of World War II, it was the site of the second largest naval training station in the country. It was used as an Air Force Base during the Korean War and became a state park in 1960. Driving into the state park, the road layout and some of the remaining buildings showed its past as a military base.

Checking in at registration, we confirmed they had lots and lots of sites available (as we knew from the ReserveAmerica system), and the staff provided us a list of available sites so we could pick one. Useful as the sites varied in slope, shade (important on a hot, sunny day) and power pedestal location. At Sampson State Park campground, whoever laid out the electrical pedestals was not a camper. Each pedestal services two sites, and most are located too far from the designated parking pad for a standard electrical cord to reach. And since each pedestal services two sites, approximately half the pedestals are on the wrong side. We picked a site with a suitable slope, some shade, and close enough to a pedestal - we had 3” to spare on our electrical cable after creatively running it under Sprinty.

A nice surprise was the bathhouse. Same design as the bathhouse at Watkins Glen, only maintained much better. Note for future trip planning - the bathhouses at Watkins Glen State Park campgrounds are amongst the worst state park facilities we have experienced. In any state. They were not being kept clean, and maintenance was lacking. Surprising as it is one of the most popular state parks in New York - they had 170 check-ins scheduled for last Friday. And as we wandered the campground, every site was occupied. So it can’t be for lack of money. And as both Keuka Lake State Park and Sampson State Park - both less than an hour away - are in better condition, it can not be for lack of expertise in the New York State Park system.

Things started cooling off around dinner time, and low temperatures were back in the upper-60s by bedtime making for more comfortable sleeping without air conditioning. While we had an electrical site, the park was encouraging everyone to use air conditioning only as needed so as to not overload their electrical system. We were fine running the fans, sleeping much better than the last two nights.

Monday, 22 July

We woke up to a weather forecast of rain all day. Same forecast as we saw last evening - we just hoped it would be better as happened a few days ago where the forecast rain occurred someplace else. Leisurely start. We departed the campground really late for us - just before the checkout time of 11am. Most of the time, we are on the road around 8am, sometimes earlier. But with rain forecast all day, we had no place we had to be.

We made our way to Trumansburg, NY to the Colonial Laundromat in the center of town. Selected because it was on the way, and based on the on-line reviews. Probably the nicest laundromat Sprinty has ever visited. Clean enough that if you dropped something on the floor in moving it from machine to machine, it was of no consequence. As clean as our laundry room in our stocks-n-bricks in Canton. All the machines worked and looked to be in excellent condition.

After laundry was done, we continued towards Ithaca, NY. We ignored the Google Maps routing and selected a route along the west shore to Cayuga Lake. It also went by the entrance to Taughannock Falls State Park. Seeing the sign for the Falls Overlook, we turned up the road. Even though it was drizzly, we enjoyed the view of Taughannock Falls. It was raining too hard to be able to enjoy hiking their trails. Something else for a future trip.

Then on to Ithaca for grocery shopping. Afterwards, we just hung out in the parking lot hoping the rain would let up enough to hike the nearby Buttermilk Falls Gorge Trail. Buttermilk Falls was on our New York list. Dave and Irene Carey, a couple who full-time in a Roadtrek Zion SRT, a couple we follow on YouTube, did Buttermilk Falls a couple of weeks ago on a sunny day. https://youtu.be/WoPE3NpIILw. Jump to 6:30 in the video of the Buttermilk Falls part of the 10 minute video. Their video made the hike an even higher priority for us than before.

Our patience was rewarded. As the weather forecast suggested, the rain tapered off to a slight drizzle by 4pm, making it more appealing to hike the Gorge Trail at Buttermilk Falls State Park. Buttermilk Creek drops about 600 feet in the park. The Gorge Trail follows the cool, moist (more moist than usual due to the rain) gorge past deep pools, water-sculpted rocks including “Pinnacle Rock” and several waterfalls.

Upon arrival, from the entrance road, you can see the first waterfall.

However, as we hiked up the Gorge Trail along Buttermilk Creek, we saw cascade after cascade after cascade. The Gorge in Watkins Glen may have been a more impressive gorge due to its depth, however, the waterfalls at Buttermilk Creek were as impressive, or more so. And judging by the parking facilities, considerably less known. We only encountered two other people on the trail - of course, that it was still drizzling might have been a major reason.

We hiked to the end of the Gorge Trail, past Pinnacle Rock, which the map said was about 3/4 of a mile. There was a trail that continued up to Lake Truman, but the creek beyond the road looked pretty creek-like, so we headed back via the Rim Trail. The park staff had said that the Gorge Climb was a lot of stairs. The Apple Health App said we did over 35 floors. She said the Rim Trail was one you could shuffle along. Well, mostly shuffle. What goes up must come down, and the Rim Trail was mostly downhill, just sans stairs. And sans any views of Buttermilk Creek and its many cascades.

Just as Irene and Dave say at the end of their video that they were so glad they did it, so were we despite hiking it in light drizzle. Totally worth it. And nice enough to be part of a future trip to the Finger Lakes region.

While at the park, we inquired of the staff about the 20’ RV length limitation. Especially as we came in behind a couple towing a 19’ or 20’ foot travel trailer. She offered that we could take a look, and provided us with a list of available sites that might accommodate Sprinty. As we drove out of the lower parking lot and made our way up the hill to the campground, one of the reasons for the 20’ limitation became immediately obvious - the road had some narrow winding twists. Of course, Sprinty navigated them with ease, and once in the campground, we confirmed that Sprinty could indeed utilize any of the suggested sites.

Since our journey had us continuing northeast towards the Adirondacks , we chose to stay at Fillmore Glen State Park in Moravia, NY.

Fillmore Glen State Park was named for President Millard Fillmore, who was born on January 7, 1800, in a log cabin about five miles from the park. He became President when President Taylor died in 1850. He is best known for signing the Compromise of 1850, which attempted to forge a compromise between pro-slavery and antislavery interests. He was not nominated for President in 1852.

We knew from ReserveAmerica they had many sites available. Upon arrival, the park staff provided us with a long list of available sites. She also said they had gotten 12 hours of rain, so a key criteria in selecting a site was that drained well so we would not have to worry about Sprinty getting stuck in the mud. After testing the ground conditions, we selected a site near a field that sloped well.

Tuesday, 23 July

We started the day with a minimal plan: to play golf and continue making our way northeast. Although there was a golf course adjacent to Fillmore Glen State Park, it did not look as nice as the Vesper Hills Golf Club in Tully, NY, one we had originally selected when planning our trip in his area. So we stuck with the plan. We called before we left the campground and learned they could get us on at 10:40, which was perfect as Google said it was 45 minutes away, and we wanted to warm up on the practice range.

Google Maps’ preferred route was about half interstate highway, so we elected to take the scenic route. Lots of twisty roads, a couple were just graded gravel, and a couple were seasonally maintained (meaning no maintenance in the winter). We went up and down some grades exceeding 10%. And enjoyed the lack of traffic. All was going well until we suddenly and abruptly came upon the “Road Closed” sign. And as luck would have it, it was in the middle of nowhere without any cell service. Fortunately, the Google Maps routing info was cached on the iPhone, and we were able to figure out a way around the closed road - taking even more back backroads than before.

We arrived an hour before our tee time, and got to hit on the range. We could see by the groups already teeing off that it was going to be a busy and slow day. We both hit great tee shots on the first hole, and Darrell managed to convert his to a par. Throughout the front nine, we stayed close with Darrell making the turn only one stroke up.

Two of the groups in front of us dropped out after nine holes, so we started the back nine more at our preferred pace. Darrell started the back nine with six consecutive pars. Trouble with sand traps on holes 16 and 17 interrupted his string of pars, but he made birdie on the final hole to finish the day 7 over par and taking honors.

We really liked the course. It was in great condition, especially considering the rain yesterday. While the holes were wide, some of the fairways were narrow, rewarding good shots. Kris had seven drives over 160 yards, and one was 190 yards.

A minor setback at the conclusion of golf was the realization that Darrell had lost his credit card somewhere on the course. Somehow it escaped from his pocket.

We had selected Verona Beach State Park as the campground for the night, located on the east end of Oneida Lake. Kris however, wanted her Starbucks for Darrell’s efforts on the day. So we headed for Syracuse, NY to a stand-alone Starbucks. In selecting the store among the choices in Syracuse, Darrell failed to research the location. It was on the edge of Syracuse University campus, on a narrow one-way street and no place for Sprinty to park. Fortunately, he used the Starbucks mobile app to place the order several blocks away while sitting in traffic, so Kris got dropped off at the street corner to pick up the drinks Darrell bought while Darrell and Sprinty navigated one way streets, circled the block and picked up Kris after she had retrieved the drinks.

Once we could find a convenient place to park Sprinty, we took care of the lost credit card matter. Thank goodness we travel with multiple credit cards for surprises like this.

Once again, we arrived at the state park without any reservations, having checked ReserveAmerica last evening to know that they had some sites available. Some of New York’s state parks require a two night minimum if you make a reservation (especially the popular ones like Letchworth SP and Watkins Glen SP). They had several non-electric sites available. Fortunately, Sprinty is very capable of dry camping if we don’t need/want air conditioning. The park staff then asked if we wanted a waterfront site. They had one waterfront, non-electric site available, and only for one night. Perfect.

We expected to have to back in to the site as is customary in campgrounds. However, as we got near the site, we noticed that other waterfront site campers had positioned their RVs closer to the water and were not backed in. So we were able to position Sprinty to have a lake view out the sliding door, which was also the direction of the breeze.