Eastern Escapades: Day 4--Watkins Glen

On the fourth day we went to the Sacred Grove one more time before we drove away from Palmyra. It was even prettier the second time. There are benches everywhere where a person could sit and contemplate, and we took advantage of them. It is just beautiful.

We also wandered the grounds around the Palmyra Temple (maybe one block away from the Sacred Grove) for a few minutes.

Then we hit the road again, heading west. We decided to spend a few hours in the Waterloo Outlet Mall (right near where the Amish sell their fireplaces and gazebos that are made by hand). I found so many clothes for my mission! It was a very successful trip, and I even had room for them in my suitcase (which was a carry-on).
Meanwhile, dad drove off by himself to go see a lock on the Erie Canal. I think that was his favorite part of the trip. To each their own. He is a water guy after all.

One of the many cute houses.

Then back on the road toward Kirtland. By this point we knew we wouldn't make it their before nightfall, so we called ahead to a hotel along the way in Salamanca. This made it so we had enough time to take the scenic route. We ate at a country diner, which was fun. Mom got a chicken wrap, but it was cold and pretty bland (she swears they just boiled chicken and put it in there). As her third yucky chicken experience on the trip, she wasn't very patient with it. She asked the waitress if she could microwave it for her to heat it up. We heard the chef grumbling in the back, with the waitress telling him to shush. It was pretty funny. Mom had offended the cook. We all got a good giggle out of it. I felt like we were definite (snooty) outsiders.
And back on the road. I love upstate New York soooo much! It is so beautiful! There are rolling hills covered in forests for hours and hours. They are filled with big, healthy trees of kinds that don't grow in Utah. The weather was perfect for us. I also love the people. Everyone was talked to was very friendly (perhaps not the cook, but we didn't talk to him in person). They are all kind, safe drivers (except the truck drivers--scary!). Most of them dress modestly out of habit and not because they are members, and when we walked past they would smile and say hello. I guess we didn't go to any big cities, but I just thought everyone was so nice.
An interesting observation Rachel made is that everyone out there had pretty nice cars. Not flashy ones, but we rarely saw a junker like we do in Utah all the time. Interesting.
Dad says that I can't live there because it is too far away from Utah, but I want to at least visit there again.
Our waitress at the diner told us of this gorge we needed to go to on our scenic route. It fed into one of the finger lakes (which are beautiful on their own. I wouldn't mind honeymooning there).
The gorge was in a place called Watkins Glen. They bragged of 19 waterfalls in the first mile. The gorge was lovely. It seemed to be the east coast version of a canyon. There are stairs built along the whole thing, so we could hike through it with ease (plus a bit of huffing).
The gorge is made of layers of solid gray rock (not like our red sandstone) worn through by the water. There were waterfalls every hundred feet or less. There was plant life everywhere--moss on the walls, trees above, and some bushes and vines clinging to the wall. It was humid and cool, and the light that trickled down from above was tinted green. We saw several frogs hopping along.

The beginning of Watkins Glen Gorge.

Behind a waterfall.

Sooo pretty.

It really was glowing green.

Then we kept driving through lovely wooded hills with the occasion lake or river for the rest of the day. Salamanca was less pretty, and had a huge casino. It was still nice to crash once again (after catching up in my journal, of course.)