We were packed and on the road relatively early headed north behind the Cadenas family who would camp next to us for two more nights. We said goodbye to Ricketts Glen with a promise to come back soon as we loved this campground!
My phone started going crazy with texts and emails from buildup of the past 2 days of being on the mountain! Being unplugged is so nice and so noisy of a return!
My friend Rob recommended the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon as a stop while we were in his home state, so we headed there next. It was just a little ways out of the way, but a very beautiful drive as usual. I made a mental note to stop at several places on the way out to take some pictures as the countryside is just lovely. And to someone it's just their backyard.
If we'd had more time here we would have tried the hike down the gorge, but the view from the top was gorgeous!
I can only imagine how beautiful this view would be in just a few months with all the colors! After a short visit to the visitor's center to learn about ravens and bear dens, we hopped on the road toward a new state. The clouds were amazing with all the weather in the area so I stopped a few times for these shots:
And before we knew it we were in a new state!
With the rain of the day, it was COLD! I really didn't expect to be wearing sweatshirts during the afternoon in July! After a couple more hours and a few pit stops, we reached Buffalo, NY. Having been mostly nestled in the woods for a few weeks, it was quite a shock to see the view of the skyline. I couldn't quite figure it out for a few minutes, but finally realized it was the massive steel power line structures that led us into the city - thousands of them - that completely spoiled our return. I was instantly pulled to return to the tranquility and beauty of the woods.
Luckily, our park was located north of the city a little ways, so we were thrilled to spend a few days camping on Lake Ontario. As we rolled into the park, the kids screamed as we saw Grammie waiting for us at the office. It was such a relief to have another friendly face we know along our journey!
With all the storms of the night before, the wind off the lake was howling. My tent practically turned into a hot air balloon the instant I set it up - and that was with the windows open! We carefully staked it down and parked my car in front of it to hopefully keep some of the tension off the stress points of the tent while I already dreaded sleeping in it that night.
There was a quaint town close by with restaurants so we headed that way. I'd made fun of an advertisement for a pizza place in a gas station that reported it was the best pizza in town. The restaurants were noted as being all along the main road, but it seems a few were either closed or opening soon, so guess where we ended up?! I would have to say it was absolutely delicious pizza! And it was cooked and served by some guys with some accents that just made me smile every time I heard them talk. Brayden actually ate 6 pieces of pizza, some of my crusts, and a cookie. When we asked if he was finally full he of course said, "I could eat." Not sure what I'm going to do with him when he's a teenager!
Laney chose sleeping with Grammie for the first night, so Ryan, Brayden and I were dropped back off at the campground. The kids practically leaped out of the car to go play with their friends while I did the same toward the laundry room and power outlets. Someone had the same idea with a power strip in the laundry room with several ipads, iphones and other stuff I didin't recognize plugged in.
Here is the view behind our campsite of the lake. See Toronto way out there just to the right of center?
We hung out with the Cadenas family around their campfire until all our eyes were heavy and finally retired. It's so nice to have instant friends for my kids, but equally as nice to have my own right next door! I filled our laundry bag up with clean clothes and stole a few minutes of the Toronto city lights and went to bed. Fortunately for me the wind had died down considerably and there was zero (finally!) chance of rain so we fell instantly asleep with the tent windows open in the cool night air.
