While RoVer was parked in between trips, we had a crazy wind and rainstorm in Rochester, so it was good to see that our vent covers did their job and kept the rain out even though the vents were open! Loading up for these weekly trips has been pretty easy – we have a good system now and it’s been wonderful to be able to keep RoVer plugged in at Mark’s cousin’s house – we can keep AC running on these hot summer days, and the fridge keeps food cold so we don’t have to remove everything!

This week brings us to our 3^rd NY state park campground – Chenango Valley State Park in the southern part of the state, not far from Binghamton. We decided to bring the MINI along with us on this trip, since we figured we might want to head into Binghamton and the surrounding area during our 3-day stay. So, Mark drove RoVer and I drove the MINI for the 2.5 hour trip. Once again, we stopped en route at Onondaga Lake Park to have lunch and break up the drive a bit.

When Mark is driving alone, Grogu rides shotgun. He’s pretty quiet – definitely doesn’t talk as much as I do – but we do have to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t eat any buttons or knobs.

Once again, our campsite just has an electric hookup, so we left Rochester with a full freshwater tank, and our first stop once we arrived at the campground was to empty our gray and black tanks. The setup here is SO MUCH better than it was at Treman State Park – easy access to the dump stations (two of them), and on the correct side of RoVer! We found our site in the “Chipmunk” loop and it’s beautiful! So private and shady! And, amazingly level. No need to use any blocks to level the RV – it was perfect as soon as Mark backed it in and parked it! The campground is really empty right now – we’re guessing it will fill up as we approach the weekend.

We took a bike ride around the Chipmunk loop and down to the beach area – the park has two kettle lakes, and one of them has a really nice swimming area. We’ll explore more on Thursday and Friday, for sure! The kettle lakes are formed from glacial ice that is buried in sediment. When the ice melts, it leaves a kettle that fills with water to form a kettle lake. I’m learning so much as we visit these parks!

After a nice dinner outdoors by candlelight (citronella candlelight, that is!), we went for a walk and then played a game of Yahtzee. We have a drawer full of games in the RV, but this was the first time we had a chance to play any of them! I won, two games to one. But who’s counting!?!?

While we were watching TV Wednesday night, we heard a strange noise and found a screw on the floor – but we have absolutely no idea where it came from. Can’t find anything that’s missing a screw or seems loose…so strange. Quite the mystery…hopefully we’ll solve it sometime soon and it will be something silly and minor! Fortunately, it’s a small screw, so it likely wasn’t holding anything large or heavy!

We decided to hike the Chenango Lake Trail Thursday morning – the trail around the larger of the two kettle lakes. It was an easy two-mile hike. The highlight of the hike was the amazing number of lily pads and water lilies everywhere on the water.

There was one narrow stretch of water that Mark called “avocado water” because of the lovely shade of green. Ugh. Definitely not “Green Lakes”.

I had read some reviews of the trail that said it wasn’t well-marked, and we figured out what the problem was. The markers are about 8 feet off the ground. Not sure who thought that was good placement. My theory is that they were put on the trees at eye level, and then the trees grew…and grew…and grew some more. Mark shot that down, since the markers look pretty modern and recent – unlikely there was that much growth that quickly.

After lunch, we headed out on a quest. I read that the Binghamton area is the carousel capital of the world – six carousels in the area! And I wanted to see, and ride, all of them. The story behind these carousels is fascinating. If any of you remember Endicott-Johnson shoes (I sure do!), the company was based near Binghamton. George Johnson, one of the founders, was extremely generous and donated all of these carousels with the stipulation that they should always be free for children…motivated by his childhood when he was so poor, he couldn’t even afford a nickel carousel ride. And, all of the carousels have another NY connection – they were all built by Herschell Carousel in Tonawanda, NY (suburb of Buffalo).

Anyway, we found the first carousel at Ross Park, near the Binghamton Zoo. I picked a horse and took a ride and enjoyed it immensely. I haven’t been on a carousel in years! The employee asked if I was going to do the ‘circuit’ and when I said yes, she mentioned that the Recreation Park carousel wouldn’t be opening until 4pm (a few hours later)…so I knew to skip that one for now.

From there, we headed to Johnson City for what is supposed to be the largest and most ornate of the six carousels…but it was closed. Apparently has been since the start of the COVID pandemic. So bummed! And the next couple carousels were another 20-30 minutes away, in the opposite direction from the campground, so we decided that our carousel quest wasn’t meant to be. Oh well, it was a fun idea and I enjoyed the one that I did ride.

When we got back to Chenango Valley, we stopped at RoVer and picked up my telephoto lens – earlier, with the lily pads, I was wishing I had it with me since I couldn’t get close enough to them to really get nice photos. And, I’ve never used the lens – haven’t had a need – so this was my chance to play with it and see what kind of photos I could get. I’m SO happy with the results – you can really see the flowers and the details in the lily pads! They could inspire some Claude Monet paintings! They’re so beautiful, but SO toxic and deadly. I guess it’s good I couldn’t get too close!

We were pretty fortunate in our timing, as apparently water lilies only bloom for about three days, and most were in bloom on our hike – last week or next week, we likely wouldn’t have seen any!

We had an “oops” moment Thursday afternoon when Mark realized one of our folding chairs was resting against the hot water tank exhaust. Turns out that little round vent sends out some real heat, because we discovered it had burned through one layer of the fabric on the back of the chair. Could have been SO much worse – and lesson learned, that won’t happen again!

After dinner, we broke out the cast iron pie maker again. This time, instead of biscuit dough, I bought crescent roll dough, and it worked SO MUCH better! The dough thickness was just right to cook through and brown perfectly to make these yummy cherry pies. Two attempts, two perfect results. And Mark has mastered the cooking process with timing and rotating of the iron.

The campsite next to us is occupied now, with a mom and her young son – he’s probably 4 or 5 years old. Just the two of them, in a tent. I was thoroughly impressed, as that’s not something I would have attempted…not because I couldn’t do it, but because I wouldn’t want to do it!