Day 56, 57, 58, 59 & 60 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Wednesday July 1st, we left Ives Run to head into NY. We will not return to Ives Run until September. Our destination for today is Darien Lakes State Park. We had many options to our route of travel today, but opted for going all two lanes to our next destination.

We started on PA 287 for a few miles and then turned onto PA 249. We are heading northwest on the two-lane undivided road. The route passes through a mix of farmland and forested hills, turning west and running through Kenneyville. 

The level of military appreciation we saw in this small town was amazing! I am not even sure if I would call it a town, no store, post office, church or bar!

At the NY border the route turns into NY 36. The origins of NY 36 date back to 1908 when most of modern NY 36 between Jasper and Mumford was assigned a legislative route designation by the New York State Legislature. 

Along this southern portion of this route there are many Amish farms. The Amish community in Jasper has approximately 200 traditional, conservative households that settled in the area during the early 1980s.

Drawn by the affordable, rural farmland in New York's Southern Tier, they sustain themselves through dairy farming, sawmills, woodworking, and small local businesses.




Jasper is where Charlie lived for a few years, after his grandma died. They moved from Livonia to Jasper to help his grandpa.

Speaking of Charlie's past,  just south of Canisteo is the Killbuck Inn. No Charlie did not drink at the Killbuck Inn, it was near there that he fell out of his mother's car, when he was 5 or 6. It is that accident where he got the scars on his face. Miraculously, that was all he got!

We continued on Route 36, it took us into downtown Dansville for a couple blocks, then back out toward I-390. The section of Route 36 between Dansville and Mount Morris closely parallels Interstate 390. Not sure what the two blocks of Main Street was all about!

I love murals, in any town we pass through and Mt Morris murals are no exception. There is a mural with the faces of prison guards, medical personnel, firefighters, police and military personnel. It was unveiled to the public on Saturday September 11th, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Underneath the pictures of first responders are the words, “We remember and we honor.” Ohhhh, so fitting. 

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. 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. 

This is not a mural, but an old painted advertising sign, still cool!

Turned off Route 36 onto US Route 20 and arrived at Darien Lakes State Park, our home for the next seven nights.

We arrived ahead of our friends, they all arrived this evening Thursday July 2nd. Charlie and I enjoyed a slow morning at the campground.

We had mail to mail, so a visit to the Alden USPS was on the list. After that we enjoyed lunch and craft beers at Black Water Tap and Tavern.

The establishment pays homage to the local history of Alden's world-renowned, mineral-rich "Black Water" baths from the late 1800s. Discovered in 1891 during a natural gas drilling project, Alden's sulfurous "Black Mineral Water" was a famed spa destination for treating rheumatism and skin diseases. The black water industry transformed Alden into a bustling resort town that attracted thousands of visitors from across the Northeast, peaking in the 1920s and 1930s. The bathhouses closed by the 1960s.

We enjoyed the Thursday lunch special, a slider of your choice, 5 wings and fries. Charlie had the Hayburner IPA and I had the Ellicottville Blueberry Wheat!

Last stop on today's outing was the grocery store. The sticker shock of grocery shopping is much easier after lunch & beer! I do have to admit, I enjoy being back where Wegmans is, but the "buy 2 get 4 free" deals at Tops Friendly Markets can't be beat!

Everyone arrived slowly and we enjoyed sitting out and visiting with them. It was way too hot for a campfire!

Friday July 3rd involved late morning Espresso Martinis, hand crafted by Karen with a little Guinness for extra flavor! It is just a great time to relax with friends!

Here is a picture from camping seven years ago and today. We all agree that we have aged gracefully!

It sure is hot, hot, hot... so, to quench my thirst I had my first Monticello American Peach Wheat Ale that I purchased on the 250th Anniversary of America Tour. I got it at Michie's Tavern, but it was from Jefferson's Monticello Estate. 

For dinner, we enjoyed individual pizzas, hand crafted by each of us, cooked by Karen in her pizza oven. Karen even made fresh dough for us. Sheila & I contributed items for the pizzas and our side dishes and dessert! It is still too hot for a campfire!

Happy Independence Day, on this 250th Anniversary of America! It will only happen once in our lifetimes! Although I don't remember what we did, I do remember the bi-centennial in 1976. I was eleven years old. On Saturday July 4th I enjoyed a nice walk and the sunrise. Rob made us all breakfast in his Dutch oven and we contributed bacon.

It was an overcast day and it threatened rain all day. We were lucky, a few spits and sputters, but no downpours were occurring all around us and where our friends were camped.

 

Often when we camp, we share our sides and cook our choice of meats on the grill over the campfire. That is what we did tonight. Everything was delicious! We all enjoyed a visit from Joe, Casey, Parker and Magnolia. But, Rob and Sheila enjoyed Magnolia, their newest granddaughter, more than the rest of us! Parker spent the night with his grandparents and Joe & Casey took Maggie home after dinner. Even though it was hot, we needed a fire to cook dinner, so we enjoyed it for a while after the cooking and dinner was done!

Day 60 was Sunday July 5th. We were supposed to enjoy a few more days of peace and quiet at Darien Lakes State Park, but plans changed.

I have not talked much about the inconsiderate family group we had camping all around us. But, it was amazing how bolden they were to do what they wanted with no consideration for the rules or other campers' space. I mentioned that we pulled into our site. 

So, our door was close to our power pole and the majority of our open space in the campsite was on the drivers side, but we wanted it that way, so we had a large area to sit. But the hot weather kept us under the trees. The family group took it upon themselves to pitch a tent for their kids or grandkids to the right of their power pole on our site. Not once, did they ask if it was OK, or did they acknowledge that they were not on their site. Granted our site was a pie shape, so from the road the tent was a ways away from our camper, but as you moved into the site our space narrowed and it was close enough to hear the girls talking and giggling late into the night.

So, Sunday, after we enjoyed breakfast with our friends, they got packed up and headed home. As soon as the two campers were gone, the family group began to cross through the empty sites, again. Charlie and I sat under the tree and enjoyed the site. The family group was on one of their sites having a water balloon fight. All the running, laughing and having fun is part of camping, but when the kids run towards us and they continue to throw the balloons in our direction, that is not cool. The final straw was when one of the kids ran between our chairs and the tree we were sitting under literally right behind us. Obviously, this family group were not "real" campers and were never taught campground manners.  

So, we packed up all of our stuff and headed to Livonia. This will be our home base for the 60-days we will be here. We love our set up at Jimmy's. Hard surface for camper parking, shade from the big trees and privacy! Perfect!

After we got set up, we learned our friends Sheila & Randy were at No BS, a local brewery. Yes, you guessed it. We went a few miles to meet them. But, we were so busy catching up that there were no pictures taken! Not even of the beer!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!