It was time for an "executive decision"; we had planned to spend only one night on the road this trip. The lure of the good food and comfy accommodations at Seneca Lodge and a study of all the neat places on the map that we hadn’t seen was enough for us to decide to spend another night and have two more days to explore the area. Time to get out the cell phone: "Hi Colleen, it’s Alice. We won’t be home tonite; can you and Lucas feed the fish??…Thanks…I owe you one!" Our good friends and neighbors are truly a gift.

We charted a new route through the hills and hollows over to the Farm Sanctuary; the truck was loaded with bags of sheep feed and veterinary supplies for our farm animal friends. Route 329 out of Watkins Glen took us up to the top of Watkins Hill and we wound our way down Meads Hill Road, stopping briefly on Route 16 to watch the high-speed ballet of Porsches and Corvettes on the racetrack below us. Continuing west, Demplar Road and Sugar Hill Road brought us out at the south end of Mill Pond, a marshy extension of Lamoka Lake. We noted several promising canoe launches along the pond, but it was a little too windy for a paddle today.

Arriving at the Farm we found Simba and her sheepie friends had begun to regrow their woolly coats, and the flock was enjoying the cool shade inside their barn. Simba wandered over by the door to check us out; I think she really does know us. I also think she was looking for apples, which we didn’t have this trip! Down the road at the Pig Barn, the residents were alternating between dodging the heat in their mud pond and relaxing on the fresh straw in their barn. Huge fans whirring in the walls high above cooled the barn off nicely. We’ll be back to the Farm in October (with a couple bushels of apples)…a side trip from our Fall Foliage and Winery Tour with our friends Deb and Mick, Bonnie and Mo, and a whole bunch of our local buddies.

Next on the agenda was an investigation of the Sugar Hill State Forest and Recreation Area. We’ve passed it a number of times; it’s only a mile or so from the Farm Sanctuary on Tower Hill Road. A short dirt road brought us out in a parking area with a 6-story lookout tower looming high above (NO WAY…most of you know me as the "Queen of Acrophobia"!). Sugar Hill is an equestrian recreation area, with a network of nearly 40 miles of trails for use by horses in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. A grassy clearing provides a camping area with outdoor covered stalls and adjacent campsites.

We zigged and zagged our way back to the Lodge late in the afternoon...Evergreen Hill Road, VanZandt Hollow, through the bustling metropolises of Beaver Dams and North Beaver Dams; we really hit all the big ones!

As usual, we had interim destinations in mind on our way to the river. Approaching the airport at Elmira, we saw the National Warplane Museum’s awesome new complex. We’ve been members of the Museum for a number of years, and worked one of the flight lines at the Wings of Eagles Airshow the first year that it was in Elmira. The new Museum was still under construction at that time; it has exceeded any expectations that we may have had. They have two 30,000 square foot hangers; one houses a dozen + static aircraft as part of an exhibit that provides a history of military aviation from 1914 until today. The second hanger is home to the Museum’s planes that are currently flying as well as their planes and engines that are under restoration. Our tour guide through the restoration hanger was a WWII vet, Bob Young. His stories and first-hand experience during the war made our visit one that we will never forget. We didn’t even try to restrain our tears while listening to one of Bob’s stories about the Museum’s pride and joy, the B17 "Fuddy Duddy". A fellow who had been a B17 pilot had been given a certificate for a ride in Fuddy Duddy by his children; tragically, he passed away before he had a chance to share a last ride with his trusted war-bird. A short time later, his wife arrived at the Museum dressed in her husband’s military uniform (Bob said, "she cut quite a figure"!) and asked if it would be OK for her to go for the plane ride in honor of her husband. The staff replied that THEY would be honored if she would fly with them. Upon their return to the ground, she jumped out of the plane before the props had stopped spinning and much to the crew’s horror, ran over to the #4 engine…just before it stopped she gave it a kiss. As the crew dashed toward her admonishing that she could have been seriously hurt, she left them with some words of wisdom..."my husband always said that if you kissed the #4 engine when you got back to the ground, it would bring you home one more time". Please take some time and visit the Warplane Museum in Elmira; plan on spending the better part of a day there. It’s a very special tribute to all of our veterans that sacrificed so much to make our lives as rich as they are today.

We picked up route 352 outside of Big Flats and toured along the Chemung, stopping to investigate the boat launches which are well marked and very accessible. The river was swollen from the recent torrent of rain, but looked very inviting for future exploration when the water subsides a bit. We both agreed that it was way past time for some ice cream, and fortuitously TC’s Subs and Ice Cream stand appeared just outside of Elmira at the corner of Routes 352 and 225. A sign announced that they have weekly chicken barbecues, which we have logged in our notes for our tours back to the Chemung next summer.

For more Chemung River info, contact the Steuben County Conference & Visitors Bureau at sccvb@onlineimage.com. You can find the National Warplane Museum at http://www.warplane.org. As always, we’re at http://irwinhome.freeservers.com.