Godon family visits Elmira

We made it to Elmira, NY by mid-afternoon. Nancy told us what rooms we would have for sleeping so we were able to unload the car before Dale came home. He took us up to Harris Hill. An unexpected opportunity appeared to ride in a glider. Francis was delighted. Though he can't be seen, he is the passenger in the glider below...

In the picture below, if you look carefully under the flag on both sides of the flag pole, you can see the tow plane pulling the glider that Francis is in. (Two white specks) Shortly after this picture was taken the glider and tow plane disconnected. There is no motor in a glider. During the one flight I have taken, I was amazed at how the sounds from earth are heard so loudly up above. Francis had about a half hour's flight.  

Francis got a new T shirt with a map on the back!


The Finger Lake region of New York State is also known for its vineyards and wine.


Our next stop this evening was Eldridge Park. Lauryne, Kevin and I rode the carousel.

Then Kevin and Lauryne went "flying." 

And there was time for Dale to take us out in the big dragon motor boat. The dragon roars and smoke comes out of its nostrils! There are other dragon boats on the "lake" but they don't have motors.

My sister enjoyed the ride.

The next day we had lunch at the Farmers Market while Dale helped out on the popcorn truck. Then we toured a small museum until it was time to take a bus tour of Elmira, run by a former student of Dale's. We stopped at Elmira College to see Mark Twain's studio. His sister-in-law had had it built on her farm where Twain spent his summers. The studio gave him a place to write and he could smoke his cigars away from her house!

This tractor actually belongs to Dale, which is why Francis is able to sit on it! It's on loan to the museum.

There is a replica of this study at Eldridge Park.

 

Elmira College was once for girls only. This pond was their gymnasium! It was all they had for physical education classes.

Checking out Lake Seneca...

Lauryne and Kevin were more adventurous than us older folk. They couldn't resist walking out to the end of these rocks.


When we stopped at a huge waterfall that flows under the highway, these two climbed down the embankment and wandered around on the rocks by the waterfall. Having her arm in a sling didn't seem to slow down Lauryne.

This is a different waterfall than the one mentioned above. Francis saw this on his first visit to the States, but that was during the winter and the falls were frozen. The sign below explains the French "connection."