Friday - Sunday, August 26 - 28th 2022 … Two Lane Adventures Continue!

Friday, we traveled from Chemung County to Letchworth State Park. It’s a short drive and we took the highway, to avoid the hills of New York.  I did get a walk through the woods before we left the park!

The sights here are spacious, partly wooded and all gravel. The park really thought about the campers, when they built this park!

Charlie and I toyed with the idea of changing our reservations around a bit, because Letchworth is closer to our old home area. But after we arrived, we are very glad it did not work out. All of the sites our group had were the worst sites we have ever had here. Un-level, steep drop offs when you exit your rig and Royce and Karen had to back high on a hill to get level! Karen and I did some walking here. Roscoe joined us, so we did 2 miles out on the main road and 2 miles back. This route kept him away from the other dogs. He loves to try and “herd” everything he sees!

Royce, Karen, Sheila and I made a trip to the “Amish Bulk Food Store” in Warsaw NY. In 1995, Lantz's Bulk Foods was started by Ivan and Cheryl Lantz at a local farmers market known then as "The New Farm." Searching for a facility of their own, they purchased the Top of the Hill Restaurant and converted it into a bulk food store / restaurant in 1997. In late 1997, Ivan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and after a courageous three-year battle, God called him home. In 2002, Lantz's was purchased by the current owners & a nephew to Ivan, the Dwayne & Rosie Glick family. My biggest purchase was peas... I am not a cooked pea lover, but I am addicted to these dried peas!

This was the second time we got to camp with Walter, this summer. This trip just proved that he is ruling the Driscoll household! LOL!!!

We enjoyed group meals and our campfires with FRamily! The one night the bourbon was flowing, after a few went to a distillery, winery and cidery! The conversation around the campfire was very lively that evening! It was great fun for those of us soberer!

Charlie & I had Sunday afternoon to ourselves, so we went to Mount Morris to check out more of the Livingston County Murals, then Applebee’s for an early dinner and then went to check out the falls in Letchworth State Park. The first-ever county-wide mural festival hosted in New York State happened in Livingston County this July 2022. The LivCo Walls Mural Festival welcomed nine international artists to paint large-scale murals in each of the nine villages of Livingston County. The nine villages of Livingston County are: Avon, Caledonia, Dansville, Geneseo, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris and Nunda. I already shared the work from Livonia. The newest mural is the Flowers of Letchworth, painted by Louise Jones from Detroit, Michigan. It was painted on a business on Main Street in Mount Morris. 

However, to me, the more interesting mural was created by Shawn Dunwoody, a local activist and artist. It mural encompasses the many faces of history in the town of Mount Morris. Dunwoody was careful to take input from students and community members to be sure all stories were told. In Haudenosaunee culture, women were traditionally responsible for crop cultivation. 

The Three Sisters represent corn, beans, and squash, three important main crops grown by the Seneca people in Western New York. Mary Jemison, also known as Dehgawanus and the "White Woman of the Genesee." She was captured by a group of French soldiers and Shawnee allies. Jemison was subsequently adopted by the Seneca and spent the rest of her life with them. Numerous immigrants came to the area to work on the 124-mile canal, which connected Rochester and Olean. The canal operated from 1840 to 1878 and was abandoned when Mt. Morris became a railroad hub. William Pryor Letchworth became a wealthy businessman in the iron industry. After visiting the Genesee Valley, he purchased a large plot of land and expanded a farmhouse into the Glen Iris estate as his private residence. Letchworth retired to his estate at the age of 48 and devoted his life to charity, including helping to establish a regional hospital for people with epilepsy and modernizing "poorhouses" and orphanages. Letchworth donated his estate and 1,000 acres of land to New York State as a public park in 1906. Mary Seymour Howell, born in Mt. Morris in 1844, frequently traveled with Susan B. Anothony and wrote the full suffrage bill that was passed by the NYS Assembly in 1892. Ross Barnes (1850-1915), born in Mt. Morris, hit the first home run in what was to become Major League Baseball. He played nine years as a Boston Red Stocking. Francis Bellamy, author of the Pledge of Allegiance, was born in Mt. Morris in 1855. The pledge was written as a "salute to the flag" and meant to be a pledge of loyalty. 

New York is home to many fantastic state parks, but few are as awe-inspiring as Letchworth State Park. For those of you not from New York, let me explain. 

Letchworth State Park straddles the banks of the Genesee River along a canyon that is as much as 550 feet deep, garnering it the nickname the “Grand Canyon of the East”. While the park is said to be home to dozens of waterfalls, there are three large falls on the Genesee River that are the stars of the park. These are creatively named Upper Falls, Middle Falls, and Lower Falls. The Genesee River starts in northern Pennsylvania and flows north through the park. This is important to know as, despite what you would assume, Upper Falls is actually the southernmost of the waterfalls. As the river leaves the Letchworth State Park, it passes through the Mount Morris Dam, the largest concrete dam east of the Mississippi. North of the park, there are two more large waterfalls in downtown Rochester before the river flows into Lake Ontario.

As I said before, the Upper Falls is actually the southernmost of the three waterfalls in the park on the Genesee River. It is the second tallest of the three main waterfalls at approximately 70 feet in height. The water here falls in a horseshoe shape, which gives it a lot of beauty.

Probably the most unique feature of Uppers Falls is the bridge that stands more than 200 feet above the river. This active railroad bridge creates a unique scene for both viewing and photography, and its amazing to watch trains pass over the bridge.

The Middle Falls is the tallest waterfall on the Genesee River the Letchworth State Park at 107 feet in height. Middle Falls is located just a few hundred yards downstream from Upper Falls. The concrete path next to the falls offers many great vantage points including looking directly over the crest of the falls. Middle Falls is located just below Glen Iris Inn, the former home of William Pryor Letchworth, the man who donated much of the park’s land. 

Rob suggested that we visit Inspiration Point, not sure what his intentions were... But, it is one of the highlights of any visit to Letchworth State Park. From here, there are fantastic views of Middle Falls and Upper Falls together.  

It was a quiet evening in the camper, because we get no internet, cell signal or TV stations! Luckily, we get a signal for our Sirius radio, so listening to Willie’s Roadhouse is the fun for the evening!

On Monday, we head back to Chemung County to finish out our camping in New York!