Wednesday, was a day to move relentlessly southwest for another 120 miles. We had spotted a major state park on the camper brochures we got from Fair Haven, but it wasn’t in any of the camp directories. The name was a little strange also: Letchworth, a park that bills itself as the “Grand Canyon of the East”. We now know that it is in Castile, NY. But without cell or internet service, was impossible to enter as a destination into the GPS. The helpful gal at the Fair Haven desk printed out Map Quest directions, so it was no problem. There were, in fact, road signs all the way from Geneseo NY which was the provisional destination I used for the GPS.
Lynne called for reservations as soon as we had cell service, but they put us off saying that walk-up would be “no problemo.” Needless to say, the ranger at the entrance was quite skeptical that enough sites were remaining when we arrived at 2PM. We drive to the office and ask for a site. The gal asks whether for just tonight or tomorrow also. I say having the option for a second night would be nice. She says that they’re filled up tomorrow with the holiday weekend and all. I say “well then I guess you know the answer to your question.” We have her pick us a site, and she runs the paperwork. Did you guess it? Yep it’s for two nights. Tomorrow afternoon may bring it’s own special adventure if another family shows up to claim our site.
The park runs for about 17 miles on both sides of the Genesee River, encompassing three major waterfalls, and covering over 14,000 acres.
We are once again settled in. Morty is just barely leveled, using all 10 of our leveling blocks – a new record . Leveling is not just for comfort, the gas refrigerator needs it to run when immobile. The afternoon thundershowers have shortened our initial walk around the park. So, we’re cooling our heals, and the camper itself. We are hooked up to electrical power only, and even that is just household outlet quantity, not the 30 amps we usually get. Probably means we have to shut off the TV to run the microwave. We are really “roughing it” now.
My bicycle has been out of service since Grand Isle because of a glass shard that punctured my rear tire. I got the patch stuff at aWal-Mart stop, but haven’t been able to find an adapter to pump the tire back up. I have the Euro presta valves instead of the USA Schrader type. Very few bike stores even carry such adapters, so it seems that I’m a pedestrian for the time being. Got to make sure that little item is on the “go list” next time.
First impressions of Letchworth are that it is huge. $6 fee per car just to enter. Yet the camping fees are very reasonable. Vast areas of forest and neatly manicured lawns. Hardly any people even in the camping area. Very well run and maintained. The magic continues. We thought we were in the same weather pattern as yesterday, with a clearing evening. So just as we set out on a hike to find the river gorge, the rains returned and we turned around. I was then ready to prepare dinner, but Lynne objects to the potential for steaminess. It doesn’t seem warm enough to be a problem, so maybe we’ll do battle on this one.
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