We got the van back together for our upcoming ramble to Utah and Colorado. Cooktop in, sink in, refrigerator in, commode in, bed platform in, freshwater system in, platform storage in… That’s about as far as we are going to get before our big ramble, so we decided to do an overnight test up at Watkins Glen State Park in upstate New York. It’s only a couple of hours North of us and we’ve been wanting to photograph a few of the waterfalls for some time. As it’s getting late in the season, we were able to snag a reservation for an RV spot at the campground for the evening of 9/8.
After our Tuesday afternoon Yoga class, we jumped in the van and headed north. We were slowed down just a bit as we had to stop by the pharmacy in Binghamton on the way to pick up a prescription. Because it was a bit overcast and drizzly, it was already getting dark when we arrived and began setting up.
I’m anxiously looking forward to having my shoulder replacement and rehab behind me. It is difficult getting up onto the raised bed with the bum shoulder, but life is what it is. I fired up the Yankees game on the DirecTV link on the iPad and kicked back for the night.
After an uneventful night, I got up and puttered around for about 2 hours. Got out the new AeroPress manual coffee grinder, filled up with beans and got ready for my morning brew. This grinder is simply a dream to use – maybe overpriced, but worth it for me. Titanium-coated stainless steel conical 38mm burr grinder. I may do a separate post on this amazing tool. Coupled with the AeroPress Go Plus 3 in 1 Travel Coffee System, I spent the next hour and a half savoring 3 cups of Honduras Organic coffee. I finally decided it was time to hike the Gorge Trail.
I drove over to the South Entrance where I entered the night before, parked the van and began to take out gear. My knees were already weary, and I hadn’t even begun the hike. I decided to leave everything behind except for the Hasselblad and Slingbag for this jaunt, locked up the van and headed down toward Couch’s Staircase. From there I hiked a bit further down to Sentry Bridge, captured a few images and then started back up past Couch’s Staircase toward Cavern Cascade. By this (short) time, my knees were already shot from the up and down climbing. After a few images, I began the climb past Cavern Cascade toward Suspension Bridge. After many rests along that path, I finally arrived. My original goal for the day was to hike to Rainbow Falls – but I’m only 1/3 of the way at this point and my knees were rubber. I’m done for the day.
After resting for about 15 minutes, I decided to work my way from Suspension Bridge back to the van and save Rainbow Falls for the next time. I packed the gear back in the van, left the park and headed into Watkins Glen to sit and reflect over a large cup of coffee at Seneca Sunrise Coffee.
I managed to drag that into 45 minutes, limped back to the van and began the trek home.