On deck.............getting ready to get back on board!

Once again, we'll be chasing the Northern Lights.  Our success over the years has been limited.  This is about as good as we have done in the past.  This picture was taken near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 13, 2022.

We returned to Florida from New York on August 27.  Since that time, we've enjoyed visiting with family and friends.  As always, many of our favorite visits have been with Beth's mom (NaNa).  There is a "Golden Rule" about visiting her............bring treats!  We often ask her if she'd want us to visit her if we showed up empty handed.  Let's just say we're better off bringing goodies!

Ice Cream..........one of her favorites!

I enjoyed a fishing trip with Beth's cousin (Brian Bustle).  He's a great guide!  We caught and released about 40 bass!  My #1 rule about fishing..........if you don't know what you're doing, go with someone who does, and Brian really knows what he's doing!

Next Tuesday (September 24) will be a very special day for NaNa.  We'll be celebrating her 96th birthday and you can rest assured that there will be plenty of good food, laughter and singing.  She was born in 1928.  Calvin Coolidge was in the White House, Babe Ruth was leading the Yankees to their 3rd world series title and the first all-talking film "Lights of New York" had been released just a few months prior.  If you're a movie buff you are probably thinking to yourself, "The Jazz Singer" was the first talking movie.  You wouldn't be wrong, it was the first "talking" film, however it only had limited sound.  AI strikes again!  Needless to say, she's seen a lot of changes over the years but one thing that has been unwavering is her kind spirit.  It'll be a grand celebration!

After the birthday party Beth and I will be heading directly to the airport.  We'll fly first to Chicago and then on to Reykjavik, Iceland.  Just like on Anna Maria Island, it will be early fall in Reykjavik, however fall has a different meaning in Iceland.  We'll be leaving behind tropical fall temperatures that are hovering around 90 and stepping off the plane to a temperature that will be around 40 degrees.  After the heat and humidity of Florida, it'll be both brisk and refreshing.

We'll have one and a half days in the Reykjavik area.  We have a car rented and are looking forward to touring the Golden Circle.  This circular route is approximately 190 miles in length and includes a number of southern Icelands most popular sites, including Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss (waterfall) and several geyser areas.  We've driven the Golden Circle Route one other time, but it was around 20 years ago. Ben and Sarah were teenagers at the time.  We enjoyed it then and I'm sure will enjoy it this time around.   

The Golden Circle

After our day of enjoying the Golden Circle, we're hoping for a little nighttime magic...........I'm talking about the Northern Lights!  We've caught a couple of glimpses of them a few times over the years, but we've never hit the jackpot.  Hopefully this will be the time that all the conditions align and we get a great show.  Time will tell!

The next day we make the short drive to Reykjavik, drop off the rental car and head to the port.  We'll be embarking on back to back cruises that will follow a not quite direct route from Iceland to Galveston, Texas.    

The first cruise is on the Norwegian Prima.  It will take us to a couple of ports in Iceland before heading for Norway, Amsterdam, Belgium and ending in Southhampton, UK ten days later.  Once we disembark in Southhampton, we simply walk a short distance and check in for the second cruise which will be a 21-day transatlantic cruise on the Regal Princess.  We'll visit a couple of ports in France and Spain and make one stop in the Azores (Madeira), before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  After eight consecutive, relaxing sea days we'll have three Caribbean ports (Antigua, St. Thomas and Grand Cayman before disembarking in Galveston on October 27.  There's faster ways to get from Reykjavik to Galveston, but those ways are for folks in a hurry.  We’ve got plenty of time on our hands!

Cruise 1-Ten Days on the Norwegian Prima

Cruise 2-21 Days on the Regal Princess

I'm not planning on taking my laptop on this adventure.  It's a dinosaur that weighs a ton and downloading pictures on the ships Wi-Fi is difficult.  I'll try to post a few blogs along the way............It’s getting close to time to pack the bag with a few cold weather clothes and a few warm weather clothes.  Iceland and the Caribbean, one carry-on and one backpack each!

A week of New York Fun.........Endwell, Skaneateles and Syracuse

Hanging out with Ben and a couple of his bear friends!

Other than Lake Placid, most of our week in New York was spent in the area where Ben lives.   Even though he was working, we were able to spend a good amount of time with him and his sweet dog Allie.

Ben lives in the hamlet of Endwell, which is located in the town of Union, which is next to the town of Vestel, which is next to the city of Binghamton.  Confused?  So am I, but it seems like hamlets and villages in New York can be located inside towns and cities.  I'm not sure how it all came to be, but I can tell you that when you're driving in that area you're constantly seeing "Now entering ........, Now leaving ........" signs. The sign vendors in that area have a pretty good thing going on!  It's a very nice area, no matter which hamlet, village, town or city that you happen to find yourself.  As always, Ben had plenty of great ideas to keep us busy.

One of our favorite activities was relaxing at the campground while watching Ben direct all the fun for the campers.

Jellystone Campground Binghamton NY

Although it looks like a pretty good swing on the golf simulator............

he crushed me!

While Ben was working one day, Beth and I revisited the town of Skaneateles (pronounced "Skinny-atlas").  This town is located on Skaneateles Lake, which is one of New Yorks famous Finger Lakes.  The town and lake get their name from the Native American Iroquois tribe, and it means "long lake", which is an accurate description since the narrow (1.5 miles wide) lake is over 16 miles long.  The spring fed lake has no tributaries flowing into it and is considered one of the cleanest lakes in the country.

On the way to Skaneateles, we stopped at Carpenter Falls which is near Niles.  There was a nice short (.5 mile) trail that led to the falls viewing platform. 

The small town of Skaneateles has a population of just over 7,000 residents who have the good fortune of calling this scenic place home.  If their home happens to be a lake front home, not only do they have the "good fortune of living there" but they also have a "big fortune", as lake front real estate is quite pricey.  The small downtown is located on US Route 20.  Route 20 through Skaneateles is only a couple of miles long, but the road itself is the longest continuous road in the US, running 3,365 miles from Boston to Newport, Oregon.  The downtown has a number of shops, restaurants, homes and churches with beautiful city parks (Clift and Thayer Parks) on both ends. 

Chilling a bit in Thayer Park

Skaneateles

We enjoyed a bit of roaming around and eating at the Blue Water Grill, which overlooks the small marina.  We were also able to get a little relaxing (and a scrabble game) in Thayer Park.  The highlight of what was a very nice day was the time we spent on a guided tour of the lake aboard the Judge Ben Wiles.  The one hour narrated tour went about halfway down the lake on one side, crossed over to the other shore and returned to the marina.  Along the journey we learned about the history of the native people, how the Finger Lakes were formed and about many of the large houses along the lakeshore.

The one-hour lake tour on the Judge Ben Wiles was both relaxing and informative.

One of the many large homes along the lakefront.  We'd be happy with the boat house!

Blue Water Grill 

Doug's Fish Fry (another good place to eat in Skaneateles

Mid-Lakes Navigation

Skaneateles is a town with a unique name and exceptional scenery that's well worth a visit!

The day had arrived when it was time to pack it up and head back to Florida.  Our flight was an evening flight out of Syracuse.  The late departure gave us the chance for one more adventure, so of course we took full advantage of the opportunity.  The State Fair of New York was in the middle of its annual two-week run in Syracuse, making it a perfect place to spend the day before getting dropped off at the airport.

We had enjoyed a day at the fair back in 2022, and since we had Ben and Moriah (a fellow Jellystone employee) with us, it was even better the second time around.  How could you possibly not have fun with racing pigs, life size dinosaurs, fried food and the New York State Fair tradition of $1 baked potatoes?  The only downside of our day at the fair was that it was exceptionally hot, but it wouldn't be fair to judge the day by the weather.  Ben and Moriah dropped us off at the airport a little early so they could finalize plans for that evening's staff meeting back at the campground.  This gave us a bit of time before our flight to relax and reflect on what had been a fun week in New York! 

Racing pigs.............

.........mean looking dinosaurs..........

.............more mean looking dinosaurs..........

..........fried food galore............

...........and $1 baked potatoes.  They estimate that they serve over 50,000 potatoes during the fair (the line moves quickly)!

So much to see and do at the Great State Fair of New York that sometimes you just have to stop and catch your breath!

The Great New York State Fair