Labour Day Weekend...each year we head out for a last hurrah of camping for the summer. And each year we always say that when we are leaving on Friday, we still see, feel and taste summer. But when we are driving home on Monday afternoon/evening, it seems like fall has arrived within those few days. Every single year.
Just like last year, we headed to Darien Lake, NY for the weekend. At this stage in our life, it seems like the perfect place for us to enjoy that last hurrah of summer before school begins.
Niagara Falls. We seemed to have spent quite alot of time in Niagara Falls before ever crossing. Hmmm! We stopped at Duty Free to exchange some money and pick up discounted passes for the theme park. Keith had to finish up a few work phone calls as well before we crossed so Max and I enjoyed the great views of the falls while we waited.
Rather curious as to how the "duty free tree" came to be? Max noticed it first...
(all the leaves on this tree in the parking lot were covered with duty free stickers.)
First item on the agenda once we crossed the border was finding a grocery store to pick up our food for the weekend. Bananas. Yum! The "brain fuel" sign makes you automatically feel about 80% smarter by eating them. Cute!
We stayed at Darien Lake State Park which is just a 5 minute drive down the road from the theme park. You must buy your campfire wood from roadside vendors on your way to the State Park...they do not sell any wood at the State Park. We found a little stand that we went back to each night as the wood was reasonably priced and fairly dry. Both things can be a challenge.
Campfires are the best. Particularly when you know it's your last camping trip of the season.
Saturday morning we headed out to spend the day at Darien Lake Theme Park. So much fun! Max and Keith went on as many rides as possible. I did not. It's not that I don't like rides, I just can't handle them anymore. I went on a few...including the pirate ship and the motorbike roller coaster but both times, about halfway through my head would start pounding with a splitting headache. You know you're getting older when...! Regardless...we all had a great time. I love people watching so there's lots of that to do while waiting for the boys to go on the rides.
I spy...
They really know how to cater to Canadians...a Tim Horten's right by the front gate! We grabbed a couple to go and headed back to our campground...tired and hungry from our fun day.
One of the best things about camping is enjoying delicious meals outdoors. Keith grills some steak...
I mixed a salad...
...with some spanish rice and fresh green beans to go with it all. YUM!
Followed by another campfire... :)
The next morning we had a relaxing morning starting off with a pancake and sausage breakfast...
...and then some biking and fishing where nothing was caught unfortunately.
Someone was whittling a little sharp weapon made out of wood...
Sunday afternoon we went on an impromptu drive to Letchworth State Park about 45 minutes away from where we were staying....
It is billed as "The Grand Canyon of the East"....
It is certainly not as vast or majestic or colourful as the Grand Canyon, but it was still a GORGEOUS State Park and we loved it all the hiking. We're hoping to go back next year and camp there. There are three different waterfalls down in the canyon. We hiked to two of them...
Signs of fall were around...
Our dirty, dusty tired feet from an afternoon of hiking and exploring...
Icecream instantly makes them feel better...
Strawberry and Mint Ting-a-Ling...
Sunday evening we enjoyed our last big campfire once again...
Monday we packed up. Hit the outlets for a bit of shopping and then crossed thru the border back into Canada and headed home. Someone was kept blissfully entertained the whole way...
Other then a bit of a hassle at the border (Really? You need us to set up the tent trailer so you can search through our smelly smoky camping gear to make sure we're not smuggling in shopping items we didn't claim? All right then, go nuts. Of course they didn't find anything....there was nothing to find!) and a traffic jam on the QEW for a while....the ride home was uneventful and we pulled into our driveway at 6:00pm.
And just like that, the summer was over and it was fall. We enjoyed big mugs of chai tea that night just to prove it.
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