Blueberry Patch Campground in the Finger Lakes National Forest

Catching up now on my final backlogged blog. Say that fast three times? 

This blog is about waking up on Friday morning from the parking lot at Cracker Barrel. 

Yup ... 5 a.m. 

ROARRRRR

CRASHHHHH

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

BANG BANG BANG! 

That will teach us to park right next to a fenced in dumpster area of FOUR bins. I guess we were really too tired to notice last night when we parked. And little did we know that on the chance of seven mornings out of a week, that that happened to be the one morning they were coming to empty the dumpsters?

Well, since we were already up we might as well start the day. We hopped in the shower (still getting used to showering in a parking lot!) And got dressed. We walked Binney out behind the parking lot and she took care of things and we deposited her little poop bag right back in the empty dumpsters! LOL

Our friends Al and Kelly from the Bayfield Bunch Blog have a strong fondness for Tim Hortons coffee. We have never had Tim Hortons, we usually just perk our own coffee in the motorhome. But as luck would have it, only two buildings down there was a Tim Hortons open this early! So we just had to check it out... 

We indulged to say the least! 

Then it was time to hit the road. We wanted to get out of Niagara Falls USA, and head on over towards the Finger Lakes region of New York. We started checking around to see if there were any national forests. With our half-price senior access pass the fees for camping can be quite reasonable. 

Nestled in between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, we found on the map a small segment of Finger Lakes National Forest, with 2 small rustic campgrounds. One was for horses called Backbone. The other has 10 wooded sites called Blueberry Patch. How cute is that?? 

Link:

Blueberry Patch National Forest Campground

It was first come first serve, no reservations. On a Friday morning it might be difficult to get a campsite but we thought it was worth the chance. We wound on down through the beautiful countryside, among vineyards and orchards. 

The scenery was extremely beautiful as we wound our way along on really nice smooth perfect New York countryside roads.

In the background is the first of the finger lakes, Seneca Lake. In this rich green valley, the lake looked so blue. And we were riding along up on the ridge looking down as we headed south.

The campground was located off a couple side roads just north of Watkins Glen. We saw notations that there was going to be a big festival there this weekend. We weren't sure how well this Campground was known and if it was going to be full or not? 

We found our way into the campground, it was not very well marked. It was a nice little loop in a deeply wooded segment of land. Of the 10 sites, only six were occupied. So that meant we had a choice of four campsites!

We grabbed an envelope from the pay post right away after our first pass through the loop. Then we went back and chose site number five. It was the deepest site backed into the woods with plenty of level ground for parking. Perfect!!! 

The camping fee in this Finger Lakes National Forest is $15. With our federal access senior pass it is half price. So we paid for Friday night and Saturday night and put the money in the post as soon as we were settled into our site.

Look at how huge this site is.... All of the space back behind where the motorhome is parked. There is a wide area around the fire pit and the picnic table near a large tent pitching pad. 

These pads appear to be quite new. 

They are filled with soft fine gravel 

that must make it very easy to pitch a tent

 and keep things level and comfortable. 

This Campground is very rustic. There are two pit toilets over on one end near a couple small dumpsters and recycling bins. There is no water source nor are there any electric sites. It's peaceful and quiet and far away from any noisy highways or cities.

It appears that some child before us had picked an enormous amount of treasures in the woods. They were all left on the rock at the base of the campsite for us to admire when we arrived. How sweet and thoughtful!

We settled into our site and prepared to spend the next two nights enjoying the peace and quiet. Especially after our rude awakening at the Cracker Barrel!

The sun was shining and the temperature was only in the mid-70s. This was absolutely beautiful weather. The humidity had dropped and we were completely enjoying the evening.  I had made up some spaghetti sauce. I boiled up some pasta and made some garlic bread. We curled up for the rest of the evening in front of our maps and apps on our phones to decide where we are going next. 

This little princess gets her own chair. That way she doesn't get leaves and dirt and pine needles all over in her fur, and drag it into the motorhome. Plus I think she really enjoys being up at our level. She thinks she's a person. 

The tall trees surrounding our campsite are amazingly beautiful. 

I had a little bit of repair work to do. It seems that after our long jaunt on Thursday to Niagara Falls, I wore out the bottom of my favorite New Balance shoes! Two of the black rubber pieces were going flop flop. They were still partially attached. So I cleaned up the surfaces as best I could with eyeglass cleaner. The closest thing I had to rubbing alcohol. 

I got out my handy dandy Gorilla Glue.

Using a few spring clips, 

I was able to hold the sole together until the glue dried. 

In the meantime, 

I have another pair of New Balance hiking shoes along 

that will do just fine.

Now while writing this, it is Saturday evening. We just had an afternoon of heavy rain after a beautiful sunshiny morning. 

Now the local news is saying there are some tornado warnings just south of us. We are going to hunker down and watch the weather.

As a silly little side note: we just got a phone call from our 15 year old grandson Jameson. He is at his summer job at A&W, and his boss left him off early. He needed a ride home and his parents weren't home yet to get him early. So he asked if we could come get him??? 

Then he suddenly remembered that we "were probably in Maine or something"!!!!  We had a good laugh about that, and we said no, New York. 

His boss gave him a ride home. How nice was that?

We traveled 130 miles today 

1,017 miles so far