Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Finger Lakes, NY and Still Sick

We spent two nights at the Sned Family Acres Campground on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes area of New York. It’s a beautiful area, but both Don and I felt terrible. He coughed so hard he pulled a muscle in his chest before we left the Cinderella Campground, so I drove the whole way (only 135 miles) from Niagara Falls. I was also coughing, had a stuffy nose and nearly lost my voice.

Susie & Denny Orr met us at the Sned CG, but we only spent a short time visiting with them. We didn’t want to pass along whatever we have, and simply didn’t feel like going anywhere. Susie gave us some antibiotics she had, and we are forever grateful. After 3 doses, we both feel much, much better today!

This Passport America park is a good place to stay ($16.25 PA rate for up to 2 nights) if you want to visit the area. We had a nice view out our windshield, and there’s a lot to do in the area.

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The same view, zoomed:

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There’s a nice pool, and plenty of grassy areas for games and gatherings.

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When we checked in, we asked if they had 2 sites together – not necessary, but nice – and with satellite access. They gave us #17 and #18. We parked in one, and while we were trying to get our satellite dishes to find the sats in the sky above the tall trees in back of us, another motorhome came in and parked in the other site.

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There were no more empty sites in this row, so I went to the office to see if they still had another one for Susie & Denny. Evidently they thought these people were our friends, just arriving 4 hours earlier than we had said they’d be here. And, since the people are Swedish, they didn’t quite understand when asked if they were our friends. Oh, well, Susie & Denny got another site (#85, I think) on the other side of the park and were able to get their satellites tuned in. We never did – the trees were about a foot too tall. So we rented some movie DVD’s and played on our computers.

Too bad we weren’t better company, but we’ll link up again with Susie & Denny down the road later this month.

Today it was Don’s turn to drive about 135 miles, to Ft. Drum near Watertown, NY. It was a fairly easy drive and this section of I-90 was in better condition than previous stretches. Even the narrow 2-lane road beside the lake seemed easier to navigate than it had been when I drove it the other direction 2 days earlier.

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Most of the houses along this shore of Cayuga Lake are on the inland side of the road.

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While the water access is across the street.

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Although in some places there’s enough land on the lake side of the road for houses.

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I could see spending summers in a place like this!

There are farms with sheep, cows and horses, as well as fields of crops.

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And many, many wineries!

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And that’s just a few of what we passed today, along about half of one of the eleven Finger Lakes!

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, as Interstate highways go. But I had to include this sign – Mexico’s in New York State!

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Later Don said the first conversation he heard in Wal*Mart was in Spanish, plus there are lots of Mexican restaurants. Yeah, I’m about ready for a Mexican food fix!

But our first food fix had to be at L&L Hawaiian BBQ! I happened to notice it near Ft. Drum as we were driving in, and I told Don I knew where we were having lunch. The Kahlua Pork was just as good as we remember from other locations of this chain, but the mac salad wasn’t quite the right taste. Still, what a good lunch, and what a surprise to find L&L in NY! The very first L&L Drive-In (as it was then called) is in Kaneohe, the neighborhood where Don grew up in Hawaii, and I’ve eaten there, too.

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Our RV site here is bigger than most places we’ve been. In fact, I can’t remember one anywhere near this large.

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In fact, if our neighbors play loud music and/or burn a smokey campfire I doubt either one will bother us.

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Especially if they are renting one of the nice cabins.

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We’d like to stay here more than 2 nights, but the place is busy and already reserved, so unless there’s a cancellation we’ll have to move somewhere else on Friday. It might be the Elks in Watertown (two 50 amp sites + water) or another campground. We’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, it’s nice to be close to shopping and restaurants, with lakes and rivers nearby and lots of interesting things to do. And our satellite dishes are both operational.

AND it’s great to be feeling better again!