Rock City used to be a really big deal.  There were trolleys that ran there from Olean, a dance and concert pavilion, a hotel,  a merry-go-round and other rides, as well as the Rock City geologic formations themselves.  All is gone now except for the rocks.

The formations remind me a lot of places like Cochise Stronghold near Wilcox.  There are cracks and crevices, balanced rocks and named formations that resemble things.   It is only 22 acres and takes less than an hour to explore completely, but it was worthwhile to visit in that it is really unusual for the area.

After we explored the formation we talked with the current owner.  We discovered that the chandelier hanging in the visitor center hung in the Castle Restaurant near Portville before it closed.  I remember that Grandma and Grandpa Briggs used to go there.

We did not leave the trailer yesterday as the weather turned cold and wet.  It rained all day and the temperature did not get above 60.  It looks like today will be the same so we will not likely do much until this weekend when it is supposed to be cool but dry.  Then we are planning to ride the scooter to Rochester and spend the weekend with Greg and Tina.

Today was much warmer yet still cloudy, and it did sprinkle a little this afternoon.  It was still quite cool in the morning so I didn’t head out until about 1 PM.  I would have liked to have been there for the parade at 10 AM, but neither of us though that would be much fun in the cold and fog.  As it turned out, Dianna was not feeling well so I went alone.

As I rode into town I saw cars parked everywhere.  Although the parade was long over there were obviously many picnics, parties, and family gatherings going on.  I rode to the Labor Day Park and easily found a place to park the scooter.  It looked as I remembered it except that it seemed much smaller.  I remember sitting on the grassy slope where many people were sitting.

There was a car show going on, and I looked at the 30 or so cars twice.  I then walked through the craft and concession area two or three times.  There were maybe 10 craft stands and maybe 8 food stands.  I listened to the entertainment for as long as I could stand their off key singing.  I also walked through the carnival ride area.  There were maybe six rides, but they were not of any interest if you were older than 8.

The place was packed, but I really don’t know what everyone was doing.  I guess it was just the thing to do.  There was a horse pull going on with a couple hundred in the stands, but there were several hundred just wandering around the rest of the grounds.  I guess this is another example of community.  There was absolutely nothing going on that would interest anyone who didn’t live in the area.

I left after a little more than an hour.  I felt funny about doing so, but I had seen everything two or three times.  There just wasn’t anything else to see or do.  It struck me again that it was about community.  This is a community get together, and I’m no longer part of it.

On the way back to Cuba I rode around Rushford Lake.  I saw the public beach where we used to swim.  Both Cuba and Rushford lake do not have an inch of land surrounding them without houses.  It is so different from the lakes I am accustomed to in the west.

I did stop and take one photo on the way back.  See if you can figure out who’s house it is.

Every night at 6:01 PM the siren is tested here in Cuba.  It is almost like the whistle that signifies the end of the day.  It only lasts about 10 seconds but it is clearly heard all over town.  It would be impossible not to hear it.  It takes a couple seconds to spool up to a steady pitch, then it holds that pitch for a few seconds, then it spools down.

The pattern is different when the siren is sounded to call the volunteers.  It spools up, holds the pitch for a few seconds, spools down somewhat but then spools back up again.  It repeats this pattern for a minute or two.  The rising and lowering pitch makes it unmistakable and impossible not to hear.

The siren has sounded three or four times since we have been here.  A few evenings  ago it went off about 7 PM and in just a couple minutes we saw fire trucks heading north out of town past our RV park.  Most likely they were responding to a traffic accident or medical emergency because ambulances soon followed.  At 1:55 this morning we had the first night time sounding of the siren since we have been here.  It woke both of us and probably everyone else in town.  Apparently not enough volunteers responded though, because five minutes later it sounded again.

As I lay in bed, trying to go back to sleep, I thought about the difference between living in the city and living in a small community.  I realized that the difference is just that…. community.

Photos

While everyone has heard of the Eire Canal, not so many know about the Genesee Valley Canal.  It was an amazing project for the times and ran from the Erie Canal near Rochester, all the way to Olean, joining the Genesee River which flows north into Lake Ontario, with the Allegheny River which flows west into the Ohio and eventually the Mississippi.  Cuba Lake was originally built to supply water for the canal, and was the largest man-made lake in the country at its completion.

When we arrived at the ruins of the historic locks we pulled out Dale’s map and discovered that there was a trail from there back to Portageville.  Although it was longer than we had planned to hike, almost 6 miles, we decided to go for it.  Dale and I took his pickup to the other end of the trail and rode back together on the scooter to the starting point where Dianna waited.  I asked him if he felt like throwing newspapers as we did so many times on our paper route in high school.

The trail followed the locks for about half a mile as they climbed, and we marveled at the design and work that went into building them in the early 1800’s.  When we reached the top of the locks the trail joined the right of way for the old railroad that replaced the canal, so the hike for the next four miles or so was relatively level.  Along the way we stopped at a couple geocaches that were right along the trail.

We  eventually reached the Genesee Gorge,

and were treated to spectacular views of the middle

and upper falls.

Not many people see the falls from the side we were on because you have to hike to get to it.  We could see all the cars and people on the other side.

Just above the upper falls is the Portage Railroad Bridge.  The current steel bridge, still in use today, was built in 1875 to replace a wooden bridge that was built in 1852 but burned on May 5, 1875.  It is another example of amazing construction from a bygone era.

The last mile or so was more difficult as we left the railroad right of way and climbed up, over and down a ridge to where we had left the truck.   According to my GPS we walked 5.71 miles, and all of us were feeling it, although I’m sure Dale was feeling it much less than Dianna and I.  It was just a short tune up for his hike next weekend with Karen for him.

We drove into Portageville for ice cream before returning to where we had parked the scooter.  We loaded our gear into the scooter, said our goodbyes, and rode back to Cuba, arriving about 6 PM.  It was a fun day filled with pretty scenery, good exercise and good times.

We then visited Cuba Library.  They added a new section in 2002 that more than doubled the size of the building.  I went in and looked around.  It is still a very small library and I am amazed at how small the original building was.  Here is a photo of the outside.

We also took another look at the corner where Dad’s service station used to be.  It is now occupied by a large new fire station that takes up not only the corner but also the lot behind it.

It was a warm afternoon so we continued our ride.  We rode over the hill to West Clarksville and took pictures of Aunt Ruth and Uncle Sy’s house, as well as the school across the street where she taught.

We then continued south past the West Genessee Cemetery and into Portville.  Just as we came into town we noticed a large and beautiful building on the left, surrounded by large lawns.  It was Sprague’s Maple Farm which is a working commercial maple syrup operation, as well as a very nice restaurant.  We stopped in and bought half a gallon of syrup for less than we have found it elsewhere, including Costco, and made plans to come back for breakfast or dinner sometime.

I had no idea where Aunt Hattie and Uncle Ruben Hatch’s house was, so we continued our ride through Portville and on to the outskirts of Olean where we turned north to Hinsdale.   We stopped at Crosby’s to see if they still have ice cream.  They do, but it is now Hershey’s Ice Cream.  We have had that somewhere before and it is very good.  Much of their business yesterday afternoon was people getting ice cream.  It appears the tradition is still alive.

With that we returned home and spend a quiet evening.  Today we have something fun to do as soon as the fog burns off.  We’ll tell you about it tomorrow.

Yesterday we did some major riding around.  First we rode up Friendship road to find Mom’s old house.  It took some doing since the road has been realigned in  many places, and the interstate has run through the whole valley.  I found her house on a spur road off the main road.  The interstate is basically in the back yard. None of the outbuildings are there anymore, but the house looks pretty good.  We talked with the current owner for a few minutes.

On the way back into town we pulled off the road on a snowmobile trail above Hidden Canyon , a place I used to play as a child.  I hiked down into the canyon and discovered that someone had built and then abandoned a nice brick house there.  It looks like it has not been lived in for may years.  The valley floor is quite overgrown so it does not look like kids play there anymore.  I also took a photo of where the creek flows under the railroad.  When the creek was low we would sometimes walk through it to get to Hidden Canyon, but usually we went over the top and across the tracks.

We then rode up Spring St. to the end of the road.  The elevation is about 2,000 feet there and the views of Cuba were very pretty.  Then we rode back into town and past the city park where the Little League ballpark is located.  I think the Trask family lived on the south side of the park.  They are some distant cousins. We then rode out South St. and under the railroad overpass to look at the horse barn.  It is still an impressive building and very much in use.

We rode back into town and down Orchard St. past the Briggs house again.  I noticed that there is no longer a car bridge on Mill street to get across the creek.  There is only a foot bridge.  We drove up West Main past the old depot which no longer exists, although the track is still obviously in use, and past Cuba Memorial Hospital.  It looks much different now with all the additions.

We came back into town via Prospect street where my piano teacher lived, and past the upper mill which is now a feed store.  We also stopped at the house on West Main where Mom and Dad rented an apartment while building our house on Hill St.  I also took a photo of the creek beside the apartment as well as a photo of the park across the street.  It looks very much like it did.  I think the slide is the same one that Dale and I used to wax up with waxed paper when we used it.

We then rode past the old high school which is now apparently just the elementary.  The elementary school across the street that was built when I was a kid is now a private academy.  There is a new high school north of town.  We also rode up Medbury past where the old school used to be.  It was no longer in use when I was a kid, and I think maybe even when Mom went to school.  It has been torn down and there are now apartments in its place.  As long as we were there we rode around the cemetery and past Millers house.

After a quick stop at the Cheese Shoppe for some curd we rode north out of town to Moonwinks, which is now a high priced restaurant, turned left onto the south shore road and took a ride all the way around the lake.  On the way we made a short detour to Oil Springs, where oil was first discovered on the North American continent, and then a quick stop were the old Cuba Lake Pavilion was located.  Everything is gone and replaced with  houses except that the house where the Merry Go Round was located is built in the shape of the building that housed it.  I don’t know if they used the original octagonal shaped building or just recreated the shape.

We continued on to the Black Creek Road, past the house that someone won in a national contest (Hotpoint or something like that), and rode up to Black Creek.  I was bussed to Black Creek for 5th grade.  This looks like the building I remember.  It looks like a private home or apartment building now.

All in all it was a fun afternoon of wandering around.

I will post pictures in my gallery when I figure out what is wrong with Java.

Although it rained most of the afternoon I was able to try out the new braking system in a few places.  It works great.  I have more stopping power than I have ever had towing a trailer.  It’s a good feeling, but he wallet does not feel so good.  In addition to having the brakes done while in NH, we also had to have some suspension work done on the truck.  With over 660,000 miles on it, it is not unexpected for some things to wear out.

We decided to spend some more time in Western New York, partly so we could spend a little more time with Dale’s family and with Greg and Tina, but also because it is still too hot to head south toward Tennessee.  Rather than traveling further north we decided to keep our expenses low and just find a place to hunker down.  After making several phone calls and consulting multiple campground guides we discovered that there is an RV park (yes, an RV park — not a campground) in Cuba that is about half as expensive as anything else we could find in Western New York.  So, here we are, back where I started from.

We don’t have any specific plans yet, but will probably be here a month.  I talked to Dale a little while ago and I think he needs a social secretary.  He is a busy guy but we will find times we can get together here, there, and in between.  It’s about 75 miles to his place and about 85 to Greg and Tina’s from Cuba.  We want to visit Letchworth, take a drive down to Potter County, and spend some more time wandering around.

In the meantime we will enjoy the cooler temps and the beautiful scenery while we wait for it to cool down.  Mom has already sent an email telling us how jealous she is and giving us some picture taking assignments.  I’m sure Don is also jealous because the Cuba Cheese Shop is only a couple hundred yards from our RV site.  Can you say curds?

Several people here told us about the scenery in the northern part of New Hampshire.  In particular they suggested that we would enjoy the Kancamagus Scenic Byway between Conway and Lincoln.  It is about a 30 mile highway that is best known as one of the premier drives for seeing fall foliage.

We left the Kingston area where we are staying and rode north on highway 125 to highway 16 that runs to Conway.  The traffic was very heavy in places as it seems many people had the same idea.  It turns out that the Conway/Lincoln area is very heavily visited all summer long, and Conway in particular is a major tourist destination.

The scenery on the way up was just about as good as the scenery on the Kank itself, except that there are some vistas as the highway rises to an elevation of over 2800 feet at the crest.  For those of us westerners that sounds silly, but it is a big deal here.  The road follows a pretty river for part of the route and there were several areas that had many visitors.  Not only were the parking lots full but people were parking along the road.  One particularly crowded area was near a waterfall that was a popular swimming and sunbathing area.

The return route brought us down I-93 but for an interstate highway, it was still a pretty ride.  We arrived home with sore behinds but had a good time in spite of it.