We are thinking of getting out for one final trip before the snow really hits (although I do not rule out traveling this winter). This coming Monday (Veteran's Day) looks like the most promising day to get out. We are not quite sure where to go yet. Mr. Mecomber threw out the possibility of visiting Cooperstown. The kids want to delve deeper into the Adirondacks. I really don't care, although I'm always game for a trip to a museum or historical home. All this dicussion made us reflect on where we've been in the past. I got the idea of recapping all the places we've visited this year. I may even make this a tradition- perhaps every November I'll do a redux of our travels. This might be especially helpful for readers who do not want to go scrounging through my blog archives, which can be an arduous task indeed.

Here are the places we got to visit this year. By listing them, my kids can now stop complaining that we "didn't do anything this summer" and see the evidence for themselves. See, we did do things this year!

I'll list our travels in order, starting earlier in the year. Click on the links for all the juicy details and some nice photos (with my languishing Kodak).

March

It is still wintry in this month for us New Yorkers, but we don't care. After the cold and snowy darkness of December, January, and February, March is like a dream come true. In March, we can see the beginning of the end to the heating season! For March, I reviewed some places we'd visited previously, like our weekend trip in Albany and a wonderful visit to the White Maritime Museum in Oswego. Once we were able, we visited some places in Otsego County:

The Fish Hatchery in Van Hornesville. The instant the weather was good, we jumped into the van and took off for a drive. I'll admit, visiting a fish hatchery isn't my ideal car trip, but this was actually a fun visit. The best part of the trip was plunging our hands into the icy water to try to grab the squirming, squiggling brown trout. Catching one was impossible, but it was so much fun trying! Hearing the story of Ole Leatherback was fun, too.

Judd Waterfalls in Cherry Valley. The waterfall is beautiful here, but the most striking part of the location is that you have no idea it's there until you are almost on top of it. We could hear the tremendous roar of the waterfall but could not see anything. We kept walking through the woods, following the intensifying sound of the waterfall, until all of a sudden the gorge opened up before us and we could see the water crashing down the rocks. It has beautiful rock formation and the scenery is breath-taking. Wow.

Monastery in Jordanville. We swung by on a whim since we were in the area. How I wish we'd been better prepared. A sign on the front gate required women to wear skirts in order to enter the grounds. All three of us girls were wearing jeans. All we could do is peer through the gates and look around at the intriguing architecture. The colorful mosaic tiles on the church are nothing short of stunning. Next time we'll travel prepared. The photos I took are very nice.


April

April is a wonderful month in New York. We don't mind the mud, the rain, the cold temperatures, and the freak snowstorm-- we can finally travel again on clear roads!

The Smallest Church in the World. Yep, it's right here in New York State. Check it out yourself. Don't blink.

The Mansion House of the Oneida Community. The photos are very nice, if I do say so myself. The Oneida Community was one of several kooky cults that sprang up in New York in the fecund mid 1800's. Most of the property was sold off, but the Community House and some of the smaller gardens remain. The architecture is beautiful and the history is colorful. The premier silverware company, Oneida Limited, was formed by this group.

Fish Hatchery in Rome. Yes, another fish hatchery. You'd be surprised how many Google search hits I get from people looking for fish hatcheries. My son is a fish enthusiast and this soothed his fish itch.

Marinus Willett Visitor Center. Relatively new to Fort Stanwix, this is our favorite Central NY place to visit. We didn't have time to go through the Fort this time (but we've only been there a dozen times), so we zipped through the center. I love the theatre. The movies are very good and only about 15 minutes long. Many of our favorite Fort park employees star in the movies. I highly recommend a visit to Fort Stanwix and the Visitor Center, what a great place.


May

I was off my feet in May so we didn't do anything but yearn to do any thing. We dreamed about camping at Oneida Lake, but camping was out of the question this year.


June

Still recovering, I blogged about an April visit to the old Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome. This place has a lot of history. My sons loved the plane and the cruise missle on display. I'm not so keen on machines, especially military machines, but I was glad the kids had a good time.

I went on a local car trip this month, too, calling it the Worst Trip of My Life. I detailed with photos our small towns under attack by a giant power company. This company intends to build 100-foot towers with high-voltage power lines across our properties-- those of us who still own property after this. It is a tragic moment in our history, and we are not the only area under attack in this way.


July

This is the month I made up for all the inactivity in May and June.

Fountain Elms in Utica. A beautiful place, and free admission! We've been here a few times and I don't grow tired of it. They've tried to keep the house looking as it was, from the late 1800s. It is amazing the amount of stuff some people had back then. The upstairs of the house is filled with glass display cases crammed with watches, feathers, dishes, fans, toys, cards, spoons, etc! See why the house was called Fountain Elms (and why your town has a street named Elm Street).

Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse. This was one of our bigger car trips of the summer. It is such a wonderful zoo! The paths and safari-style boardwalks are relaxing and interesting. We absolutely loved the aquarium and the monkeys! And watching the meerkats skitter around makes me laugh out loud even now. Sadly, we didn't get to see the penguins due to sudden evacuation due to... well, you can read about it yourself.

Salt Museum in Syracuse. This was a little off the beaten path. We had a nice lunch here, befriended a hungry seagull, and got a smashing view of Onondaga Lake. The history in the museum was really great! The Indians believed the salt waters here to be poisonous, and they showed the spring to Father Simon LeMoyne in 1654. He said it was salt and thus began the rise of the "Salt City" also known as Syracuse.

Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. My daughter is an aspiring historian. She needs to feed her hunger for dusty tomes. It's a good thing Hamilton College gives us access to their library and their dusty tomes. The place is brimming with history and gorgeous architecture.


August

Due to intensive home remodeling projects, we settled down and stayed close to home for the rest of the summer. We did get out once this month.

Verona State Park, in Verona. We were very impressed with this park and beach! It had everything-- good weather, sudden bad weather, near-death accidents, fun in the sand and water, and a longer-than-expected lunch break. We hope to go every summer... as soon as I recover from this trip.


September

White Lake, Adirondacks. Sometimes we just need to hop in the van and drive out of the town, away from shops, traffic, powerlines, pollution, everything. Visiting White Lake was just the dose we needed. The trip was too short, but it was memorable. Mmmm, I can still smell the tangy scent of pine trees. Thank God for the forest.

Steuben Memorial Site, Remsen, NY. This was one of the best trips we had this year. Funny thing is, nothing happened and we didn't see anything. No displays, no movies, no museums, no music, gee, even no people. Just us and Baron von Steuben and the trees. The glorious trees. See what I mean for yourself. It's special to us because it is so historical and so pristine. We're going there again. Very soon.


October

Trenton Falls, Barneveld, NY. This has been our most recent trip this year. It seems so long ago because that day the weather was unusually warm (80 degrees) and now we have some snow. It was only a month ago! Our visit was especially timely this year, because Oneida County was undergoing a sharp water shortage that spawned a water emergency. The Falls is only open to the public a few times a year. It was a wonderful hike. This is one of my most popular blog articles. Enjoy the narrative and see the photos of such stunning geographic features.


Thus ends my travel redux for the year. Not too bad, considering I was laid up for a month and considering we gutted and remodeled the Living Room!