Ithaca/Enfield (June 18)
Traveling from 1000 Islands to Ithaca should be straightward. We crossed the 1000 Islands bridges and got directly onto I81. However, Ithaca is not on a major highway and we had to meander on smaller roads to get to our campsite near Robert H. Treman Park. (We might have preferred to stay at one of Ithaca’s 3 state parks, but we made the reservation before we learned the deficiencies of the on-line system. ) Although we were not in the park, the Finger Lakes Trail borders the campground.
Our campsite was right beside the campground pond. I expected to hear the same melodious frog sounds I heard on Wellesley Island. However, this pond is filled with bull frogs, which call all night and most of the day, filling the campground with load croaks that sound like fog horns (and are almost as loud).
This is a big birding area. Several of the more permanent campsites had feeders, and we found a branch for ours as well. We filled the feeder with freshly purchased bird food, and were very soon rewarded with exactly what was promised on the bag: cardinals, blue jays, rosy grosbeaks, several types of woodpeckers and finches, as well as birds not listed: a large number of redwing blackbirds (visiting from the pond) and various types of sparrows (which we cannot yet tell apart).
The weather was very hot and muggy when we arrived. It was not surprising that a major thunderstorm hit that night, with impressively high winds. However, we were secure in the RV.
Chuck is still “RV watching” as there are many different combinations of vehicles. He was intrigued by this rig – the cab of a big transport truck, carrying a jeep and pulling a full-sized travel trailer.
On Monday we headed into town, planning to go to Stewart Park, drive by our former house, etc. However, when we reached downtown, our tire pressure gauge was complaining about low pressure. A quick check at a service station showed that it was the new tire which replaced our flat in Boston! This time, however, our problem occurred at mid-day, with lots of options for service. We pulled into a place on Rte 13 to see what could be done.
Having learned that would we have to wait at least a couple of hours for service, we decided to pick up fast food for lunch and hike a mile to Buttermilk Falls State Park, which is just south of town.
As the T-shirt says: “Ithaca is Gorges”. Buttermilk Falls is just a sample of the 4 major gorges/waterfalls in the area.
When the kids were very young they were in Sue’s daycare, which is only a couple of blocks from the Falls. 
On nice afternoons in the summer, Sue would transport the kids to the park and do pick-up from there. It is such a lovely spot that we started packing supper and having a picnic most evenings. So our picnic lunch at the park was both scenic and nostalgic. We also hiked much of the trail that goes along the falls to the upper park. I cannot say I recall ever visiting the upper park. This time, just as we were about to emerge at the top, we got the call that the tire had been repaired.
Fortunately, the tire could be patched. Fixing the tire was enough excitement for one day. We went grocery shopping and then back to the campsite.
Tuesday, as usual, was a work day, and we did not do much else.
Wednesday we headed out to Taughannock Falls State Park – another waterfall hike. The river has cut a very deep gorge – up to 400 feet deep in some spots – and we did a large loop at the top of the gorge rim, as well as a walk along the river bed to the falls and back. We also took a side trip to the shore of Cayuga Lake.
A lot of walking and beautiful scenery was involved. The final climb from the lake to the rim of the canon was a bit much for Rumple, but he did make it.
The Cayuga Lake shore.
As we headed back to the campground, our car engine light went on, indicating that the engine was overheating. We pulled into a shopping plaza, and discovered that we had no engine coolant. A kind person stopped to help, and took Chuck to Walmart to buy coolant. (He was on the way to supper with his wife and 2 young kids, so this was particularly kind.) Refilling the tank with coolant allowed us to get back to the campsite, but in the morning the level was down considerably. Since we were headed to State College, we decided to delay repairs until we got home. We were able to keep using the car by refilling the coolant tank twice daily.
On Thursday we went to Robert H. Treman State Park and walked its gorge trail. It is quite lovely – very similar to Watkins Glen, which for some reason is more famous. It has 3 waterfalls, one of which empties into a lovely swimming area (which was under renovation when we visited). 
Since then there has been a lot of rain, which does not bode well for the renovation. See video on the Robert H. Treman Park facebook page https://www.facebook.com/204962196191935/videos/vb.204962196191935/1569588749729266/?type=2&theater)
In the evening we went to Ithaca Commons and met our friend Gale for dinner. I have been friends with Gale’s husband, Joe since our undergraduate days in mathematics at U. of Toronto (1971?) and I have known Gale since I stayed with them on a trip to California that led to my going to graduate school (around 1983). They moved to Ithaca a few years after we did, and their two older kids were in Jonathan’s classes in elementary school. Unfortunately, everyone but Gale and younger son Daniel were out of town.
For dinner we had “Chinese tapas” on Ithaca Commons. This idea, which we had encountered in Toronto, has not yet made it to State College, but it should. The idea is to order many small plates of food which can be shared or hogged. This gives even greater variety than the usual family-style Chinese meal, and is similar to the banquets I enjoyed in Beijing.
For dessert we moved to another place that I think had just opened when we left Ithaca. (Due to the Cornell Hotel School, Ithaca has a fluid restaurant scene – only a few of our old favorites, including, of course, Moosewood, are still operating.) We ended the evening at Gale’s house, so we could visit with Daniel, who had been at work during dinnertime.
On Friday we took a day to visit friends. Chuck met his friend John, with whom he used to work, and I met with Bonnie, who has also moved away, but visits Ithaca frequently and happened to be there when we were. While waiting for Chuck to finish up, I also took a quick bike ride on the new trails that go along the flood canals.
After lunch we visited some of our old haunts. We started with Ithaca Falls, which is very close to the high school and our old house. The falls used to be completely unmarked, and reached by a poor (although very short) trail. Now there is a small park , parking and a proper path. (Whether all of this still exist 3 weeks later, as I write, is dubious due to several torrential rainfalls. Here is a link to a recently posted video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mosp4eaaiY) In any case, the falls were in their full glory for our visit.
We then went to our old house (improved by the addition of a much-needed front porch). Can you believe that this beautiful stream was on the boundary of our property.
? Elisabeth and her friends Kerri and Monika used to turn over the stones to look for salamanders. Our backyard was also the favorite grazing spot for a herd of about 20 deer. (There is no backyard in Ithaca that was not the grazing spot of at least a few deer.) I had a substantial vegetable garden which had been put in by the former owner of the house, a retired farmer. He had an electric fence, but after electrocuting a squirrel, I decided to protect my veggies with a 7 foot wire fence – and that was frequently breeched. (No chance to peek in the backyard to see what the new owners did to the substantial yard.)
We also visited Stewart Park, on the end of Cayuga Lake, with magnificent old weeping willows (many of which had to be replaced during our time in Ithaca, because they do get old and more vulnerable to the wind). 
We also went to Sunset Park, which is near our old house – tiny but with an impressive view of the lake.
Finally we went out to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I took a very nice sabbatical there, studying whale vocalizations in the Bioacoustics Lab. I had a little slice of window, overlooking the main pond and a bunch of bird feeders (with an amusing set of visitors including birds, squirrels and raccoons). We took the main hike around the pond (despite some rain) but unfortunately the new lab building, which was in the planning stages when we left, was already closed.
One interesting feature of the hike were tiny frogs, about the size of my pinkie fingernail, which were hopping across the paths. A google search revealed that these are baby toads. Apparently baby frogs avoid being eaten by aquatic predators by growing quickly into big tadpoles, while baby toads avoid being eaten by aquatic predators by metamorphizing into tiny toads and getting out of the water. Neither of us had ever seen these babies before, so we must have been there at just the right time when they left the water looking for hiding spots.
For our dinner we met up with our friend Sandy (mother of Kerri and Monika) at the Sunset Cafe, near Ithaca College.
This offers a wonderful view over the lake. We had been out of touch with Sandy since Elisabeth’s bat mitzvah (11 years ago) so there was a lot of catching up to do.
On Saturday morning we parked at Stewart Park and rode our bikes to Ithaca Framers’ Market to meet Gale for brunch. Ithaca Farmers’ Market is more like a city market than a small town farmers’ market, with a lot of prepared foods, handicrafts, and music, along with a few farm vendors. When we lived in Ithaca, it was THE place I liked to take the kids on the weekend – we would buy some snacks and fruit, climb the willow trees on the flood canals, feed the ducks and listen to live music, as well as seeing friends. Many of my favorite vendors are still there, along with the trees and the ducks. There seemed to be a bit less music, but we were at the exact right distance to enjoy the music from the festival that was taking place at Stewart Park.
John had invited us to visit him at home, so that was our next stop. Like Chuck, he is a software engineer. However, he has a very active hobby handcrafting guitars. We toured his workshop and learned quite a bit about how a guitar is put together, and what to look for in terms of sound. We did not hear him play any of his creations, but he gave us a CD he had recorded which we are enjoying when we drive. We were very impressed by the craftmanship in the guitars, including a lot of inlay work. As well, his wife Joanne is a fine quilter. We enjoyed our visit and were very impressed by their skills.
From there we headed off to visit our friends David and Lisa, who had just returned from a trip to Madagascar. (David is an international economist, and spends a lot of time in Africa.) They seem to have had a fascinating trip, and it was good to catch up with them. As well, their youngest daughter, Emma, returned from a trip to Europe during our visit. We last saw Emma when she was about 8, so seeing her as a recent high school graduate was very nice. The two older kids, Alexander and Lily, who were in elementary school with our kids being almost exactly the same age, are (of course) off doing their own thing.