Day Six: That's a Big 10-4

Happy to be home but kind of sad too. I loved driving and deciding each day where to go and what to do. I will definitely do this kind of trip again, but hopefully for longer so that I can see more! I squeezed in some gems in the short time I was on the road.

Top 5 Rank:

1. Ithaca, Lower Falls!

2. Presque Isle (Not a beach day, that would have made it even better! A few beaches on the isle. If I stayed longer I would have rented a bike there and spent some of the day exploring that way.)

3. Lake George

4. The drive from Maryland to Erie (gorgeous!)

5. Saratoga Springs near the track, having to stop in the road for horses to cross. Brought back memories of Foxboro Race Track!


Today I won $50.00 at Saratoga Gaming and Racing. Then I went to Saratoga Spa State Park to take some pics of the beautiful environs and see the geysers. I have to say that the geysers were a bit of a disappointment. They were very small! It was still a relaxing, scenic visit.

I left for home at 12:00. On the Mass Pike I hit the only traffic of the entire trip. Is anyone surprised? It took about an hour to get from Sturbridge to Charlton. I opened the sun roof and took advantage of the time. One guy jumped out of his car and ran down into the woods to relieve himself. When he came back up, I clapped for him. He bowed. Too funny!

So, I'm done travel blogging for now. More travels to come...peace out.

Day Five: Summer Fun at Lake George

"These smiling eyes are just a mirror for the sun." This is the Red Hot Chili Peppers lyric that really spoke to me today while driving to Lake George. I have been enjoying my CDs all week, but this one song was just right for the moment. My sun roof was open and it was noon, so the sun was hitting me directly. AH!

I left Ithaca this morning and plan to go back soon! It took me about 3 hours and 30 minutes to get to Lake George. I arrived at 2:00 and parked right across the street from the beach for $8. Totally worth it. The beach was really nice and the water was a bit warmer than at the falls. I went in the water a few times and sat in my CVS beach chair and read the rest of the time. I also did some major people watching. :-)

I left the beach at 4:30 so that I could drive to my hotel and get checked in. As expected, the hotel was conveniently 10 minutes south of Lake George. Tomorrow I will visit Saratoga Springs which is about 10 minutes south of my hotel. Then I will head home to Burlington and my cats!

I have had such a fun time and could go another two weeks! I am made for the road. I must have been a trucker in a past life. I really enjoy driving and checking out new areas, scenery, etc. Next area for road trip? Hmmmm..... Probably more of the Great Lakes region!

Day Four: Ithaca is Gorges continued

Had a beautiful, scenic drive on 86 East today from PA to NY. I took some pics of Chautauqua Lake (put on Facebook) that was on the way. Great rest area with scenic view of the lake.

It only took me about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Ithaca. I have been VERY lucky so far with the traffic...there has been practically no one on the road these past few days! I feel that might change since tomorrow is the weekend. Yikes!

So I arrived in Ithaca around 2:30 or so. Got settled in my room and went back out to the visitor's center to find out where I could go for a swim. The weather was hot and sunny this afternoon. Yeah! The sweet girl at the center told me that I should go to the Robert H. Treman State Park where I could swim under a waterfall. I was psyched! I changed into my bathing suit in the rest room at the center and headed over to the park. See the pictures below. I am in one of them...the lifeguard did not do a great job. HA! You can barely see me.

I grew up swimming in the frigid waters of Nantasket Beach, MA. This water was warmer, but not by much! It was very refreshing. Fresh water swimming is great because you don't have the salt or the chlorine factor. Amazing!

There was a diving board for people to jump into the deeper areas. I passed on that due to my knee issues. I did go over to the fall and under it. FUN! I recommend it to EVERYONE!

Tomorrow I am going to put my home address into my GPS as my destination. I will drive for 3-4 hours and see where I am. Then get hotel reservations that are within an hour of that location. That will be my Saturday. I will check out whichever area I end up in and hopefully find something fun to do. That will be my Saturday. Sunday will be drive until I get home! WOOHOO!

Ithaca is gorges!

Ithaca is gorges!