Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - Travel to Spruce Creek Campground, Salisbury, NY and visits to neighboring communities; Thursday, August 23, 2018 - Visit to Cooperstown, NY and Baseball Hall of Fame

Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - Travel to Spruce Creek Campground, Salisbury, NY Visits to neighboring communities;  Thursday, August 23, 2018 - Visit to Cooperstown, NY and Baseball Hall of Fame

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

We said our goodbyes to Matt & family a little before 8 this morning.  We will miss them but we look forward to seeing them at Thanksgiving or Christmas in Kansas.  

We didn't rush getting things ready to leave since we wanted to be sure and miss the heavy morning traffic.  It was 9:43 as we pulled out of Matt's driveway and headed south on I-190, then merging on to I-290 that took us around the northeast side of Buffalo and on to I-90.  It was a really smooth and uneventful drive.  One thing we love about this stretch of Interstate is the number of service areas they provide.  It is so nice for travelers.  Each one has plenty of parking for cars and semis/campers as well as many conveniences, such as fast food, ATM's, opportunity to purchase EZ passes, etc.  

It was cloudy when we left and remained that way most of the day, however, we only received a few small bouts of rain/sprinkles.  

We took Exit 30 from I-90 near Herkimer, NY where we followed Route 28, then Route 29 through Salisbury.  After that it was just a short distance to our campsite at Spruce Creek Campgrounds.  We are in Site #2.  The temperaturs are perfect - low 70's!  It's supposed to be in the 50's tonight - meaning the windows will be open!  Best sleeping weather.

The access road into the campground is a bit rough, but once in, it is a very nice campground, very neat, with full hook-ups (50 & 30 amp). We had a pull thru site and it is pretty level, which is always a plus!

After a short rest, we decided to take a ride and check out some of the nearby towns.  One of the things we love most about our travels is doing this very thing, esepcially if it means we can drive some country roads and we did quite a bit of that - and best of all they were all paved!!  

It was such a beautiful late afternoon.  These pictures do not do the landscape we saw justice.  You can see there was a haze.  It was just gorgeous and I wish you could see it the way we did in person.

Our first stop was Salisbury to view their covered bridge.  It wasn't as beautiful as those we saw in Indiana last year but it was still an amazing sight to see.  The stream was beautiful with large slab rocks up and down the water bed.   

Upstream

Downstream

Such a beautiful location.  The rocks were massive.

Our next stop was Little Falls.  We were expecting a small town but it was not small at all!  It is still a pretty busy town but you can see by many of the abandoned buildings that is was even more prosperous in years past.  All in all it still had many gems and we enjoyed just driving around and looking, especially at the homes and downtown buildings.  

One of many beautiful homes in Little Falls, NY.

Even though this house definitely needs some work, I love the architecture of it.  Enlarge it to see the inlay on the right side of a vine in what appears to be a frame.

Catholic Church

Another view.

Public Library.

This is an old abandoned building near the river.

Waterway alongside the canal.  It's apparent why they needed the canal.

The canal and the lock.

As we left Little Falls and headed back to the campground, I was able to enjoy the view from the other side of the road.  As you can see they are all amazing!

My favorite picture!  Such a beautiful barn and in such a lovely setting.

As we left the campground on our tour of the countryside, we noticed our neighbors across the road were outside.  They waved to us earlier as we were leaving.  Once we returned home, I told Dean I was going to walk over and talk to them.  Steve and Lynn are originally from Las Vegas, and have just started their 3rd year of full-timing.  They just returned from traveling through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, so we discussed things we should be sure to see and do.  Steve said we should try some of the maple syrup while we are there.  Lynn told me they purchased theirs at Sugarbush Farm near Woodstock, Vermont, so we'll plan to check it out.  Dean was busy when I walked over, and he came over once he was finished.  We both enjoyed our visit with Steve and Lynn.  We have met some of the nicest people on the road.

After eating our leftovers from Tully's for dinner, I worked on the blog and Dean watched TV.  

Thursday, August 23, 2018

I want to apologize to those of you who received my post by email this morning (Thursday-August 23).  This is what happens when you are working on something and are so tired you hit publish before you are ready and don't even realize it until the next morning when it shows up in your Facebook feed.  It was my first draft - it definitely needed changes, and I left it hanging at the end because I planned to finish it this morning.  Once I realized what I had done this morning, I deleted it after I saved it in Word - made the changes and reposted it.  

We were in no hurry this morning so I made breakfast (bacon, eggs and toast).  It's been awhile since I've done that.  Dean loves his breakfast so he was happy!

Today we are going to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Cooperstown, NY - Baseball Hall of Fame

I did not realize Cooperstown is where baseball is said to have got its start.

My dad loved all sports but I remember watching baseball games with him more than any of the other sports he watched on TV.  I especially remember how much he enjoyed watching or listening on the radio when the Cardinals played, especially back in the 60's when they were in the World Series.  I was in Junior High when they played in the '67 & '68 World Series.  I remember he also liked Red Schoendienst (maybe because my dad was a red head too?).  He used to have a baseball card of him.  

Red Schoendienst

Caridnals of the 1960's

Our "local to us" team - closest team to us in our home state of Kansas.

This one is for my daughter-in-law Megan who is a big Yankees fan - being from New York!

Last but not least, this is for my daughter, Misti Dawn who loves the Cards - and for my dad, Don.  I think he would have enjoyed visiting the Hall of Fame.

    

Babe Ruth ball and bat.

We all followed the Royals in the 80's and especially in 1985 when they won their first World Series in Kansas City against the St. Louis Cardinals.  I was pretty wrapped up in Royals baseball then and enjoyed attending several games during that time.

And we all remember the Pine Tar Game.

A special memory for all of Oswego, Kansas was when our own Nationally Renowned Sports Artist Ted Watts painted a portrait of George Brett entitled "The Quest, 1980" portraying Brett when he nearly hit .400 that year.  One of many, many sports players Ted painted during his career. 

And who doesn't remember the Sammy Sosa and Mac McGwire 's home run chase in 1998.  

Seeing these pictures of baseball cards and Beckett baseball magazines reminds me of all the baseball cards I bought for my son Marc over the years.  Fun times!

Hank Aaron's new home run record on April 8, 1974, when he broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 homeruns.  I was a Senior in High School at the time.   

Dean grabbed my arm and pointed me to the following picture:

As a former telephone worker, he told me he had set on platforms like that when working on telephone lines.  I asked him if he did it to listen to the baseball games.  

Once we left the Baseball Hall of Fame, we were both hungry.  I did a quick check of restaurants near us.  The first one listed was Lake Front Restaurant - which was only three blocks from where we were parked.  We added additional minutes to the parking meter and walked to Lake Ostego (pronouned like Oswego) where the Restaurant is located.  Here's the view from our table inside.

Our view from inside at our table - it looks like a picture, doesn't it?

Dean and I both ordered the same sandwich - his with sourdough bread, mine on wheat.  

Mine was loaded with more inside the sandwich than his - he thinks this happens often, and it's sort of true.  

We parked in front of this house while we were at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  A gorgeous home.

This house was just across the aley/driveway from the one we parked in front of.  Another gorgeous home.

One more beautiful barn picture!

What a great day we had.  We returned to the campground shortly before 4.  I started to work on the blog soon afterwards.

Tomorrow we will move from Spruce Creek Campground to Barber Homestead Park in Westport, NY near Lake Champlain.  We will also be near Lake Placid and the Olympic Village.  We are looking forward to exploring the area.