Day 186, Sat. Oct 6, 2018, From Watertown, NY to the Finger Lakes. Near Cooperstown!

Yes, Cooperstown is just up the road a bit, and we came around the SE corner of Lake Ontario to get here.  Back roads, (well state highways) small farms, miles of soy beans ready to harvest, old barns, many boats in dry dock (must be winter is coming) and preparations for the hunting season. All signs that the season is changing and these folks know what winter is like. Here are a few past years in snowfall in the cities (not small towns). Somewhat surprising that Syracuse is on top most years. We hear so much about Buffalo's heavy snows that we forget about total.

***See below.

We stayed near the lake shore and of course ran through some of the small towns that are there.  They were :  Southwick Beach State Park and two other State Parks, New Haven, Scriba, Oswego (on the lake) , Red Creek, the Lake Shore Marshes (which we hope to visit) , Alloway, Lyon and the campground here in Cheerful Valley.

This route along Hwy 3 and Hwy 104 were slow paced and peaceful  with little heavy traffic except in some of the towns. I could drive 40-45 mph and not worry about traffic backing up behind me. When t did I found a spot to pull over and wait.

Ruth and I parked for lunch in the parking lot of St Michael's Catholic Church across the street. Again , quiet and peaceful.

St Michaels' Catholic Church in Lyons NY

We ate our lunch inthe church's shadow ...almost.

We are now in a Private Park RV (Cheerful Valley)  which is full for what they are calling the "Columbus Day weekenders" here. There were games for the children, a firetruck ride, and tonight the "boom boom"of the D J band playing for the dancers.  We can hear it!

Our site was not permanent until I called wheni noticed a sewer was there,even thoughthey told me it was not. We were going to move tomorrow to another site, but now we will stay and unhook in the AM. YEA!

 We were scheduled to only have this site for one night. We would then move to a full hookup site as we were told this was only water and electricity. When I went out this evening to pour out some waste water from the hot dogs, I found that we had a sewer here at the site. So I called the office and sure enough, it was an error and we do not have to move. We had left the truck hooked up to the trailer so will change that in the AM.

There are a number of wildlife reserves and WMA's here in the area, so we should catch some migration of the Geese if nothing else. We shall see.  Happy weekend to you  that are following along. Remember to put in your guess for the number of birds Ruth  and I have seen on the trip. Win a valuable birding book to improve your birding skills., The entry deadline is the 15th of October when we should be home.

***Snow totals
 Season

	Albany	Binghamton	Buffalo	Rochester	Syracuse	City With Most Snow
2000-01	77.1	112.6	158.7	133.0	191.9	Syracuse
2001-02	47.4	63.5	132.4	58.1	59.4	Buffalo
2002-03	105.4	117.6	111.3	135.2	153.2	Syracuse
2003-04	65.1	106.4	100.9	125.6	181.3	Syracuse
2004-05	75.9	106.5	109.1	113.6	136.2	Syracuse
2005-06	30.2	74.9	78.2	73.9	124.6	Syracuse
2006-07	45.9	78.6	88.9	107.2	140.2	Syracuse
2007-08	61.1	70.7	103.8	106.0	109.1	Syracuse
2008-09	52.6	73.3	100.2	103.7	149.6	Syracuse
2009-10	45.4	81.4	74.1	90.1	106.1	Syracuse