It's just us and the old people.

We've noticed on our travels that we are largely outnumbered by, we'll say "more mature" people. I guess this has to do with taking our trip after school has started for most younger people, or people with responsibility:) We can't complain though, these "mature" people are probably more fun to talk to than our younger counterparts.

I made the "old people" comment as we began our day at Watkins Glen State Park. This was Tim and my third time to go to Watkins Glen together, and I never get tired of the view. It is almost mystical the way the rocks have been carved out by the water. It is especially beautiful with the orange leaves everywhere. We hiked from the bottom to the top and back, which is about 1.5 miles, I believe. It's a good hike, except for the last 100 steps, which are straight up.. what a killer! This was nothing we soon came to find out though.
Our next stop was Robert H. Treman Park outside of Utica. It was such a beautiful drive there, winding up and down through the red, orange, and yellow hills. We couldn' tell much from the park when we pulled in, we just knew we'd see a big waterfall at some point. Well, this hike wastes no time breaking you in... they start with the intense, straight up climbing right from the parking lot. It makes the rest of the hike seem not as bad, I guess. I have come to realize that my physical shape has digressed much from my high school years... sigh. I'm hoping this trip will get me back into shape. My only solace along this hike was the mile markers every quarter or half mile. I kept hoping they would say we'd walked a whole mile, but no. We did eventually reach the falls, and it was very pretty. It was called Lucifer Falls.. which began to make sense. We finished the rest of the hike up and then tried to book it back, with Tim even starting to get sore (it's not just me!). All in all we walked 7 miles today!

After our hike, we hit the road again, taking Hwy 13 and then Hwy 20 through many small towns on our way to Ilion, just outside of Utica. We got in to Ilion around 8:00 and met up with our friends Matt and Calin from Rochester. Matt is from Ilion and his family is graciously hosting us for two nights. Matt and Calin are also graciously sleeping on the pull-out bed - what friends! Today, we will be doing a tour at the Saranac Brewery, should be fun!