We crossed the border at Prescott into NY very quickly. No line up at all and the border guard was super quick with questions. I wanted to shop at a specific store in Ithaca NY called Eastern Mountain Sports (I had purchased some pants there years ago, love the quality and fit), so we will be heading that direction and stopping at a Harvest Host winery for a night which is on the way.
Tug Hill Vineyards, was closed but they kindly invited us to stay anyhow. We arrived and were escorted part way by their two vineyard dogs – they are confined to the vineyard by an invisible fence though, so thankfully could only run along the perimeter. Our spot for the night had awesome views of the vineyard and surrounding hills. In addition to wine, they also grow berries, apples and sunflowers. We walked through the fields for a bit and Cedar got to meet the wine dogs.
Onward to Ithaca the next day we stopped at EMS to shop for clothing and our timing was great for end of season sales. Ithaca sits at the end of Lake Cayuga in the Finger Lakes area of NY – There are 11 lakes in total carved out of the landscape by glaciers, and they sit between escarpments which keeps the winter weather moderate in the surrounding area. This lends itself to having lots of vineyards and lush farmlands.
On Seneca Lake, Sampson State Park, our stop for a couple nights is a very interesting place with a military history. Seneca Lake is the longest and deepest of the finger lakes, so I surmise, was a great spot for naval training. As you drive in, along the roads that used to be the base, you first come upon an air force/naval museum. We stayed in loop 5, closest loop to the lake. In addition to walks along the old roads where the barracks once stood, a trail goes along the lake to the resort area which is impressive; there are seasonal trailers & many cabins for rent, a marina where pontoon boats and Seadoos can be rented, a store with washrooms & laundry for the boaters, a beach, pavilion, restaurant/bar, and an outdoor theatre where a Sat. night film is shown on a big screen. The movie this week is Aladdin. We walked past the marina to find a small sandy area where Cedar could swim and chase sticks. He loved it. On Thurs. a slew of vintage RV’s started rolling in – a rally called TinCan Tourists was taking place. We went around all the loops checking them out and surprisingly met 2 other Duck Tollers. At our campsite Cedar discovered he likes Hickory nuts. He kept picking up the big green nuts and munching – I had to look it up fearing he might be eating black walnuts which are toxic, but hickory are OK, the native Americans would eat them raw and they are OK for dogs too.
Our next night we spent in a farmers field at a Harvest Host called Funny Farm Pets. We were greeted by Chuck, the owner and farmer for 30 years. He and his wife farm cattle and a special breed of pig called Malaspina. They also have recently begun breeding Indian Cattle dogs and Chuck hopes to cross breed them with labs and shepherds to get a breed they can train for police work. He is very passionate about his farm and plans for the future. They had suffered a major loss in 2019 when fire burned down their barn and are trying to reinvent themselves with less hands on farming. We bought some cheese, steaks, bacon, and pork chops as a thank-you. Our night in the pasture was quiet and we woke to see a nice sunrise as we readied to leave.
Driving only a short distance to the other side of Seneca Lake, we stopped at Keuka Outlet Trail to walk to a couple falls, both sites of old mills. The trail goes from the town of Penn Yan to Dresden.