POINT ANDy SHOOT
Staying with family in Stamford, Connecticut we found ourselves a 1 hr commuter train ride from New York. The first day was spent doing the tourist bit around lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, central Park.
The second day started with a 5 hour visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). This place is fantastic and well worth spending several days wandering through its immense and varied exhibits.
Continuing on through Upstate New York and the Adirondacks to Vermont, New Hampshire and into Maine. Camping along the way enabled us to stay at a few very beautiful locations including right by a stream that feeds into the Ausable Chasm.
Morning starts can be very slow when camping. As a lady at a camping goods store sympathised, 'often the only thing that gets you out of the tent is the need to pee'.
The roof of our car. This was taken on a 'slow start' day.
We stayed with family at Buffalo and Syracuse in upstate New York. From here it's a stones throw to Canada and Niagara Falls as well as the Finger Lakes region. Both are very pretty.
Below are the 'American' falls at Niagara Falls. They were diverted in the '70s so the engineers and geologists could inspect the bedrock to predict the erosion rate. The rainbow is coming from spray caused by the 'main' falls with the familiar horseshoe shape. In the bottom right corner is the Maid of the Mist ferry.
The 'American Falls' as they are called, a section of the Falls that's near the classic horseshoe shaped falls
Shannan at Lake Skaneateles, smallest of the Finger Lakes
Skaneateles, the smallest of the Finger Lakes, has been a tourist destination since before it was cool. Impressive houses surround large sections of the lake and the town itself, even though geared for tourists, is built with a quality and charm I appreciated. The trees dotting the drive up from Syracuse were all the vibrant shades of Fall.
We followed Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, up from Ohio through to stay with family at Buffalo, NY. The lake has been part of a clean up campaign over recent years that has reduced the pollution level of the lake. Taking some side tracks from the main highway is very rewarding at this time of year as the fall leaves are in full swing and we were able to stop to admire them.
