Sugar Creeps-me-out Glen Campground

Sugar Creek Glen Campground is described as "One of the most beautiful campgrounds in NY State".

Really? Seriously??

Becky and I drove through there on Sunday, and, well . . . if your idea of "beautiful" or even "camping" is gaudy trailers, one after another, wedged into dirt-floor campsites with their plastic cabana lights, striped awnings, lawn ornaments, fenced-in "young-un yards", outdoor carpeted patios littered with plastic recliners, Bud cases at-the-ready stacked next to the bar-b-q, and screaming children running in circles flinging candy wrappers into the woods . . . well then, it's paradise!!

I should have known when we pulled in, since the entrance had all the welcome appeal of an abandoned back-country gas station.

The campground has the potential to be extraordinary, since the glen features five waterfalls. Unfortunately, it's populated by semi-permanent (and some permanent) residents who have no appreciation whatsoever for unadulterated nature. "It ain't purty unless it's got lawn ornamnents".

We drove around a while, looking for an unlikely, but exquisite little tent site, away from the trailers and near the stream. The closest thing we found was a mud-pit littered with crap left there by the previous tenants, including a dirty dishrag, a dirty pair of socks, a tampon applicator, and -- no lie-- a pile of human feces. Niiiiice.

Not sure we're in a hurry to make reservations anytime soon.

Beyond the "campsites", the glen itself is likely well worth exploring.
We saw the first waterfall, which is lit up at night ("'cause it ain't purty without colored lights"). Waterfalls are always nice, and this one, though small, was no exception. I found a water snake there sunning itself on a slab of limestone. I wanted to bring it home, because I'm fairly certain that if one of the residents spies it, they'll flatten its head with another slab of limestone.

The other four falls in the glen are accessible by a hike along the rim. There are no proper trails, which may be a good thing, since the likelihood of Bud bottle litter diminishes in inverse proportion to an increase in required physical effort.

Maybe I'll drop by if I'm ever in the vicinity and take that hike to the top of the glen.

Father's Day Discoveries

Went camping in a cabin for Father's Day weekend.

In spite of a rainy day on Saturday, we had a good time. Spent some real quality time with my family and got to do some flipping-over of rocks in a creek with Andrew, just like the old days! Discovered some interesting things, including gilled salamanders, crayfish and tons of fossils!

Outside the creek, we saw a hawk moth,
a lot of fungus of all different shapes & sizes, and a baby wren (I think) who had fallen out of the nest. He was fine, and his parents were very busy bringing him bugs to eat.

On Sunday, I found a fairly large wolf spider and a water snake along Sugar Creek, in Dansville, NY. I like spiders and snakes, but Becky was none too fond of either one. Sugar Creek runs through Sugar Creek Campground, one of the most beautiful campgrounds in NY State. Really?? Read more...

Fungus Pix

View "NOTES" in pop-up below slide show for image details.



Fungus, mushrooms, lichens and other odd and interesting mushroomy stuff. View the slide show for pictures of lots of different varieties. The collection will continue to grow. Newer photos will appear at the top of the pile.

Finally got back to some painting! Kinda.

It's funny how a simple thing like flushing a toilet can set you back a whole week.

Let me post-preface that with the statement "we live in an old craftsman style house, built in 1930, and there's always something that needs updating or replacing".
The little upstairs bath was added somewhere along the way, before we ever laid eyes on the place, and the genius who installed it decided that brown carpet would be a good thing. Well, I suppose 20+ years is long enough to shampoo it into a barely tolerable state.

The bathroom was perfectly functional, if ugly, which is why it took a back seat to the numerous other remodeling projects I've undertaken over the years.
Until last week, when the "flush that changed my calendar" resulted in a soaked carpet and the revelation that the wax seal I replaced several years ago had finally given out.

There's another stroke of genius. Wax seals on toilets. What brainiac thought that one up? Not only do they eventually decompose, but they're a bee-otch to replace because you have to align the toilet with the drain and the bolts —perfectly— without destroying the wax seal, all the while holding the 90 pound porcelain crapper suspended in mid-air.

But that comes later.

First: the removal of the toilet and the carpet. Then the soaked underlayment. And part of the sub-floor. The drain and a section of the pvc pipe attached to the drain.
After a week of tearing down and removing, plumbing, tiling, patching and trimming, I finally got to paint -- the walls.

They're a lovely shade of "dining room color" mixed with a little bit of "den".