We met Dave & Robin for breakfast, so we had a later start leaving Dummerston, VT on Thursday, July 1; we pulled out at about 10:15. Acey has 74,254.2 and Thor has 86,818. We have a long drive today, and some beautiful scenery along the way! This was in the Green Mountains near Bennington, VT.
We followed along a river as we drove Route 9 and found a place to pull off and looked over a bridge at the Roaring Branch.
And soon we drove into New York state.
We stopped at a rest area to make lunch and arrived at Waterloo Harbor Campground around 5pm.
After we got set up, we visited Bottomless Brewery. They converted an old dairy barn into a brewery!
Friday we drove over to Corning, NY to see the Corning Museum of Glass. The welcome center had this map – you can see why this area is called the Finger Lakes – several long narrow glacial lakes.
We had heard of the Corning Museum of Glass when we were on a Celebrity cruise in 2017 – they had a Hot Glass Show! They made glass pieces twice a day – what a unique idea on a cruise ship!
At the museum, we watched 3 shows; one where an orange colored pitcher was made. The glass furnace and the reheating furnace are both kept at 2100F.
At the second show, a clear glass pitcher was made. We recognized one of the guys from the cruise ship! We talked with him after the show and he remembered us!
And the last show, a clear glass bowl was made.
Once the piece is completed, it is picked up with a fork and put in a cooling oven, set at 900F, where it will cool down to room temperature overnight, otherwise they would break.
The museum had displays of just about everything ever made from glass. I took a lot of photos – but am really only posting a few!
Up close, this is a collection of manufactured drinking glasses.
Back away from them, and you can see the 3 collection are trees…
How about a chandelier of sausages?
Could this be Mr. Potatohead’s long lost relative?
This is called Sheer Volume by Michael Scheiner, 2010
“This provocative sculpture evokes opportunistic birds eating carrion in a pool of blood by the side of the road, a metaphor for the decline of Murano’s centuries-old glass industry.”
This penguin was for sale in the gift shop.
This tiffany-style dragonfly accent lamp was also available in the store.
When Linda saw this, she knew it was a Chihuly piece! Dale Chihuly is an incredible glass sculptor, but glass work is a team effort! We did not get the names of his assisstants on this piece.
Two more pieces by Dale Chiuly, with the assistance of Lino Tagliapietra, 1988
One more by Chihuly – with the assistance of Lino Tagliapietra and Richard Royal, 1990 (all of these are behind glass – got a reflection on this one)
“Dale Chihuly’s best-known series –the “Venetians”–…pays homage to historical Venetian glass, which is an imprtant inspiration to glassmakers today. Read more about Chihuly and see some more of his amazing pieces here!
Cityscape by Jay Musler in 1981- inspired by an aerial view of a city at sunset.
This Chess Set by Gianni Toso (about 1981) was one of the most intricate and interesting pieces we saw at Corning Museum of Glass. The pieces were about 5″ tall.
A whimsical chandelier
3 pieces by Mark Peiser, with the assistance of Dale Brownscombe.
Art Nouveau 1880-1914
Rochroane Castle Window – probably designed by Agnes Northrop, made by Louis Comfort Tiffany
Paper weights?!
And even MORE of the same; so colorful and detailed!
“Rich Cut Glass In the 1880s, the fashion in cut glass changed. Patterns became more elaborate. Nearly the entire surface of a piece was cut in lines or facets.”
Colorful pitchers and such
Light Bulb Tester
A variety of Italian glasses; “The glassworks of Murano made elaborate ornamental glassware in the late 19th century. Vessels with complicted and bizarre shapes loosely imitates Venetian Renaissance glasses… The shops… marketed these wares to wealthy customers.
The museum had such elaborate displays!
An 18th century Nativity Tableau with Figures – from France
After our visit to the museum, we stopped by to see the “Little Joe” Thermometer Tube Draw Tower – built in 1912; the last tubing was drawn in the tower in June 1973. The 183 foot tower was restored and preserved as a historical landmark. The blue gaffer (glassblower) symbol painted at the top is affectionately known as Little Joe. The symbol has undergone a series of graphic modificaions, and today is a Corning trademark. YouTube video
This statue of a gaffer with his tools is near the base of the tower.
Saturday we stayed near Waterloo it was interesting to learn that Waterloo is the birthplace of Memorial Day; read more here! (be sure to follow the <…> arrows at the bottom of the page to read about the men that came up with the idea of remembering the fallen soldiers) The Memorial Day Museum is only open for a few hours on Friday and Saturday, so we thought we ought to pay a visit.
There were statues out front representing the different armed forces of the United States.
With God For Country, 1976, by Christine Sanner Pohlig – inspired by a photo taken in Vietnam.
The Grand Army of the Republic; its membership was limited strictly to “veterans of the late unpleasantness,” was founded in 1866, and the final Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949 and the last member, Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at the age of 109 years.
The idea of Memorial day is attributed to Waterloo druggist Henry Carter Welles who, in 1865, suggested that a day should be set aside to honor the dead of the Civil War. The next year, Welles and General John B Murray and a group of local citizens arranged for the first observance of Memorial Day (First called Decoration Day) on May 5, 1866. In 1868, GAR Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan issued General Order No. 11 calling for all Departments and Posts to set aside the 30th of May as a day for remembering the sacrifices of fallen comrades, thereby beginning the celebration of Memorial Day.
After visiting the museum, we went for a bike ride on the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail. The trail runs along the canal and to Geneva on Seneca Lake. The canal eventually meetsup with the Erie Canal.
We noticed several large fish in the canal when we were riding right next to it!
We soon arrived in Geneva and Seneca Lake
We rode 14.8 miles today. After dinner, we went for a walk to check out the campground. The trail we rode was on the other side of the canal from the campground.
On Sunday, July 4, our class was not going to be Zooming, and the service won’t be on YouTube until the afternoon, so we decided it would be a good day to take the drive to Niagara Falls. Linda had been there years ago with her family, but Jim does not recall ever having gone – today is the day! We got to Goat Island to park and it seemed a whole lot of people had the same idea to be here today – just waiting to park, we were in line for quite some time!
We bought tickets for the trolley and rode over to the far side of the American Falls. The rapids were really something!
There’s Canada off in the distance!
Spectacular! The American Falls – and Horseshoe Falls in the distance.
That’s a LOT of water – and a lot of mist too!
And since the sun is out, we saw a rainbow!
We hiked downriver from the falls along the Niagara Gorge Trail – the water was a beautiful green color from the high oxygen content.
We took an elevator down to river level at the site of a former hydro-electric station.
Looking downriver, we could barely see the Whirlpool Bridge. There was a dock of sorts here too – and an older Maid of the Mist boat was docked; neither of us got a photo! The boats are apparently assembled on the river, and taken apart at the end of life to be removed.
We had a good view of the Rainbow Bridge crosses into Canada – but is still closed due to the pandemic.
Looking closely, we saw flags at the center of the bridge marking the border. Canada’s flag was at half staff.
Further down the trail, we had a good view of both bridges – and the falls off in the distance! Note the Miad of the Mist boats.
A beautiful trail in the Niagara Gorge!
You could see why it was callled the Whirlpool Bridge!
The trail ended by the bridge, so we headed back to see more of the falls!
It was definitely a good choice to take a hike!
This display shows an overhead view of the falls and how the water flow has receeded over the years.
We took the trolley back to Goat Island and saw the Canadian Rapids!
We walked out on the Three Sisters Island to get a closer look at the Canadian rapids.
A small waterfall between the 2 of the islands.
As we got closer to the falls, the mist was so heavy, it was like it was raining!
Looking over the top of Horseshoe Falls
LOTS of people enjoying Niagara Falls on this Fourth of July!
The Nikola Tesla monument on Goat Island – hard to get a photo without a fan…
The American Falls – from Goat Island
Another tour opportunity in the gorge at the base of the falls was Cave of the WInds
Monday we went for a short hike – turns out the trail WAS suitable for biking, but the reviews on AllTrails indicated it was mountain biking and hiking.
There was a waterfall along this trail – but nothing like what we saw yesterday!
This tree was interesting – hollowed out on the bottom but still appears to be flourishing!
… and another set of falls
Being that this was a rail-trail, we noticed an abutment, and found there was another line that had crossed overhead.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we are heading to Jefferson Ohio, so we made some preparations for our move.
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