Part I: We shuffle off to Buffalo

We decided to try out extended traveling with the trailer by taking a meandering route to Upstate New York and the Adirondacks--staying at different places for from two to six nights.  We ended up going almost 3,000 miles and saw some wonderful places. We also found out that it is a very good thing that Alan is "handy" because he had to so some trailer repairs while we went.  

I am going to divide the pictures and comments into two parts: 
 Part I:  Kingsport to Buffalo;  Part II:  the Adirondacks, which will come later.

June 11 - 13:  Three days of hiking, mostly in rain, at Babcock State Park, near Clifftop, West Virginia:

Glade Creek Grist Mill

view from Skyline Trail

June 14 - 19:  Ohiopyle State Park, Pennsylvania

We met my nephew Pete and his family from Chicago and my sister Rosemary from Pittsburgh. Alan went off with the "boys"  for four days of backpacking on the Laurel Highlands Trail, while Karen, Rosemary, and I stayed in Freddie the trailer in the campground and did day-hiking.  

Sam, Alan, Pete, Joe, Dan

June 20 - 21:  Pittsburgh, for grand-niece Katelyn's graduation party:

June 22 - 25:  Four Mile Creek Campground on Lake Ontario, near Buffalo, New York:

The Buffalo area has  a lot more than Niagara Falls, so we checked out numerous fun things in the four days we were in the area.  

Old Fort Niagara: Built on the Niagara River by the French in the 1600's, it has a most interesting history.  For more info see Wikipedia on Old Fort Niagara

Rhoda at the drawbridge

Niagara Falls:  We had a great time hiking and sightseeing at Niagara Falls State Park:

At the base of the falls at Cave of the Winds

Buffalo has several Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  You can actually take a bus tour of them.  We spent an afternoon at the Darwin Martin House, which is actually a complex of three houses.  It was a fantastic tour, which we enjoyed immensely.  It is hard to believe the house was built in 1904 -1906.   You can see interior pictures and more info at: Darwin Martin House in Buffalo

Back of house, breezeway, and garden

Front of house:
He hid the front door, so you were forced to look at the house to find it.

breezeway from house to greenhouse

Erie Canal at Lockport, New York:

We went to the Erie Canal Museum in Lockport and saw both the modern and what is left of the original Erie Canal. 

A portion of the original Erie Canal

Picture for Garth:  This was floating in the debris of the canal.

Part II will pick up with the rest of the trip:  on to the Adirondacks.