What a good, fun, tiring couple of days we've had as family! We started out on Saturday by visiting the New York State Fair. Maddie was able to visit her projects and work in the county booth for a while. And the results of the judging? 2 blues and 1 red for her photos and a blue on her tree identification book. She can't wait to read her judging sheets. We were going to sneak peeks while we were there but totally forgot!
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| The eagle and milkweed pod both got blues but the ribbon is behind the eagle. I think no one wanted to cover up that beautiful face! |
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| This is a OK Momma, I will smile then you need to go away look! |
We walked around the fair quite a bit this time. We stayed in a hotel that night and knew we didn't need to hurry. The crowds did finally get to us! We read that night that 105,000 people attended that day which is only 10,000 less than the record. We still had quite a bit of fun in the morning when it was quiet.
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| I loved this guy! Isn't that fun. See the next picture for his name. |
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| This was in a new spot for us. The agricultural museum. I loved the sign below on the door. |
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| Olympic theme butter sculpture |
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| 4H True Leader Maddie |
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| peacocks in the 4H building |
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| I had to take this for Poppa Bill & Mamaw Mary...is that a meatball tunnel below? Maybe the 2016 version? |
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| We got to pet and feed stingrays! It was really neat. They felt slimy and soft all at the same time. |
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| NYS troopers repelling! |
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| A cake winner |
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| These are fun things from the arts & crafts section. Hand carved dulcimer. |
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| I loved the elephant... |
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| And the boots... |
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| and, good gracious, an apron made from chobani tops! |
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| Where else but the fair could you pass a cow on the road? |
The next morning we were off to Letchworth State Park. This is called "The Grand Canyon of the East" and it all lived up to the name! The park is 17 miles in length and we ended up doing a lot of driving up and down it rather than walking. There are upper falls, middle falls and lower falls, the gorge itself (Archery Field was our favorite viewing spot for that), a museum created by Letchworth, the man who first bought and preserved the area, a hotel made from Letchworth's house near the middle falls and a nature center. There was so much to see and experience!
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| We arrived at the nature center just in time for a monarch butterfly release. We ended up not participating in that and looked around the nature center on our own instead. We have released a lot of butterflies over the years! |
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| The man in the butterfly shirt was probably in his 60s or 70s and was very funny and patient. He has obviously been doing this for a long time and had a lot of knowledge. The questions he was getting were very basic and we were a bit shocked when someone asked if he had made the chrysalis. We decided that at least that man was not afraid to ask question |
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| The only original piece of the fort left...part of a fireplace. The fort was covered up with the daily life in Rome,NY until the bicentennial of our country when it was totally rebuilt. |
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| I couldn't resist this...a coat rack with spots for the ranger hats! |
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| Maddie going over the Junior Ranger booklet. This ranger was very nice and took time with Maddie. He made sure she knew what happened here. It was quite funny though because Maddie, normally sharp especially at a National Park, was tongue tied and lost track of things since she was so tired. He talked her through it though and told her he knew it was in her brain there somewhere! He then asked her who made computers and reminded her they are not as good as your own brain that made the computer because, after all, who made her brain? That one she got right away, God, so it is more important which made him smile and laugh. We got back to the car and Maddie said "Aha! No wonder he asked me that." from the back seat. When he signed the Junior Ranger certificate he had "Reverend" at the front of his name. |
And that, in a really big nutshell, was our trip. We had a grand time!! The best part is now we are home and have some time to rest up before going back to work...maybe a few more adventures too!
