Finger Lakes

LETCHWORTH & STONEY BROOK
We kidnapped our cousin Claire after Charlie & Ali's wedding in Rochester and took her camping for a few days in Stoney Brook State Park.  We hiked 10 miles one day at Letchworth State Park.  I had no idea the beauty that was hidden in this part of New York.  The hikes were great along the gorges and the waterfalls were by far the best we've seen on our trip.  Letchworth had 3 mini Niagaras.  Then at Stoney Brook we hiked along this trail that was basically just the stone on the side of the creek and along numerous different waterfalls.   We had a great time camping with Claire, we just had to watch her while she was trying to walk.  There were numerous times where she almost tripped over her own two feet and fell deep into the "grand canyon of the east".    Then we had to teach her how to make mountain pies,  she forgot to put the top layer of bread on.  She's such a sweetheart, we wished she would've had a few more days to spare out of her busy summer!

Ithaca
This town was awesome! We camped at Taughannock Falls which is higher than Niagara, and is the highest fall in the Northeast at 215ft.   It was cool to go check out during the full moon shining in the gorge.  It was "Gorge-ous" haha.   Ryan Wenner came up to camp and mountain bike with us.  The mountain biking in this area is the best I've done yet.  There were sweet trails with lots of obstacles.  We are even getting enough guts to do some of the bigger bridges and such.  Annie had a wee wipeout crossing a creek.  Her tires got jammed in the rocks and she toppled over.  Not too much blood, just a bruised arm & rib.  Tough girl continued to ride the rest of the trail.   I enjoyed it even more than Asheville, and I had no  idea about this place.  We just randomly decided to come for a few days.  Cornell and a couple other colleges are right in Ithaca so the town is funky and had live music in the streets and cute little shops.  On top of all that there are wineries and "cideries?" all over the place to enjoy.  Ithaca Brewery also makes some great beers.   We had some rain our last night so we didn't get to get up and ride this morning unfortunately.  The trails were just too muddy.  We'd totally recommend Ithaca for anyone who needs a vacation!