What A Difference A Visit From Friends Makes

Watkins Glen, NY (75 degrees, blue skies, low humidity)

We have a 5 1/2 month commitment to workamp at the Watkins Glen KOA.  It’s that time of the season when time just seems to stand still.  You might say we have a bad case of “hitch itch” and really miss traveling down the road. 

 

It’s been incredibly busy the past month and a half and we usually just collapse on our sofa when our shift is finished.  The campground is usually sold out especially on weekends and it takes a lot of patience to deal with the public and chaos each day.  That’s the life of a workamper and its just part of the deal.   We decided to work this season to pay off the cost of our roof repair to our motorcoach this spring and we are committed to finishing our contract. 

 

The Summershine college students have now left and returned to college.  They were delightful young adults and we’ll miss them.  They helped with the activities for the families in the evening and with the front desk and maintenance of the campground. 

 

Summershine Staff

 

A visit from friends can make all the difference and we’ve had two recent visits which have certainly cheered us up. 

 

JC and Bev are visiting right now for a week.  You might remember that we met them last summer at Sheridan Lake National Forest (near Mt. Rushmore). They had been following our blog and stopped by to see us.  We became close friends this winter and  met up a few times at rally’s (Gypsy Journal in Yuma, FMCA in Indio California) and attended Quartsite together with the Escapee Boomers.

 

They made a detour from their travels this summer to stop and see us.  It’s been such a delight.  It’s been a whirlwind of travel as we’ve shown them some of our favorite places in the Finger Lake area. A highlight for us was a two hour sail boat ride on Seneca Lake on the True Love. 

 

Aboard the True Love Sailboat

Seneca Lake

 

 

We also planned a nice river kayak trip on the Chemung River (near Elmira).  We both have SeaEagle kayaks and we each drove a car so that we’d have one at the put in and take out.  It was so nice to kayak down a river again.  We’ve only been able to paddle the lakes here and river trips are so much more fun. 

 

Inflating the SeaEagles

 

The river was low and slow most of the time.  Good thing we didn’t plan too long of a trip.  The picnic at the end was really nice and we sure laughed and hooted when we road down the occasional rapids.  JC thought the rapids must have been at least a class four (LOL!)

 

I’ll tell you tomorrow about another great time together that was a special moments we will always remember. 

 

Last week our long time friends Jerry and Marcia visited for a few days.  They are from Indiana and were a part of a Good Sam camping club that we belonged to for many years.  They were in the area for a reunion and stopped by to see us with their grand daughter Crystal.  Our time together was all about waterfalls.  There are so many in this area and it was so fun to hear their delight when visiting each one. 

 

Swimming hole Robert Treman State Park

Robert Treman State Park

Lucifer Falls

Buttermilk Falls

Taughannock Falls

 

Our friends are precious to us and we are so happy that they stopped by to see us.  We feel renewed and ready to face the rest of the season. Thanks so much!

 

 

Chemung River Paddle

 

Our Friends From Indiana Return For Another Adventure

Watkins Glen, NY (83 degrees,occasional thunderstorms

Our friends from Indiana, Jackie & Kenzie, decided to visit us again.  You might remember that they came to visit last summer when we were camphosts at Sheridan Lake National Forest (near Mt. Rushmore) last summer. 

http://Visit with friends from Indiana

Visit with friends from Indiana continued

Visit with friends from Indiana continued

This time they drove to see us and we’ve called this Jackie and Kenzie’s Big Road Adventure.  They stayed in one of the cute cabins at our campground.  Kenzie really liked sleeping in the bunk bed and enjoyed the front porch swing.  She is now 4 1/2 years old and is so much taller. Her vocabulary has grown tremendously.  She has such a sweet, happy disposition and our visit together was delightful. 

We were able to get a few days off and showed them some of our favorite places.  No visit would be complete without visiting the Glen and the wonderful waterfalls.  We’ve finally had some rain and the falls are flowing so much better now.  It’s a lot of stairs to climb but worth the effort.

Watkins Glen State Park

We enjoyed some fun meals together and ate outside on the picnic table.  That’s always a treat.  A roadside stand provided us with some delicious corn for dinner. It was yummy. 

Kenzie loved the corn on the cob and brats

Kenzie requested a campfire  and we just had to roast some marshmallows. 

Kenzie loved all the activities at the KOA and especially enjoyed the pool and jumping pillow. 

Putt Putt Golf Coarse

Movie in the woods

Jackie and Kenzie also went to the Corning Glass Museum and paid a little extra to make a glass night light and picture frame.  They also enjoyed the Hot Glass demonstration. 

One afternoon we went on a boat sightseeing tour of Seneca Lake and learned a lot about salt mining that has been taking place beneath the waters since the 1800’s. 

Seneca Lake

Driving around the lake is always fun and Kenzie had fun running on the grass at Belhurst’s Castle in Geneva.  .

Belhurst Castle (me, Kenzie, & Jackie)

The time sure went by quickly and there wasn’t very much time for naps.  They are on their way home now with a stop at Niagara Falls.  Please come visit us again soon!