No Reason to Whine in the Finger Lakes

Or "Russell's big day out."

Rain has little effect on wine tasting.  So we took an unusual jaunt to Seneca Lake to try out a few wineries we had not yet explored.

Even more unusual, we had a designated driver.  Yes, chastise us all for the indiscretions of our youth, and never tell our children about them.  Check that...at this point, never tell our children's children about them.

And most unusual of all, the designated driver was me.  Activities of the prior evening had no influence on my decision to take one for the team.

First you select your wines.

Then you down or dump or...what is he doing?

Not sure if Russ is restocking the winery,
or just over a barrel.

More Monkey Business.
He attracts them wherever he goes.

At the wineries, fine people are always willing to help.
This gentleman was serving at Red Newt,
which was named after a political figure.

Read between the lines.
After a few wineries, the bottles start to look bigger.

After a few more wineries,
the bottles start to glow.

It's not all that bad being a designated driver.  There is much more time for photography.  More fun with photons.

Vegetation for the enjoyment of those
who reach a vegetative state.

Get your pollen while it lasts!

Not generally fond of gnomes,
I made an exception for this little guy.
He's both useful and entertaining.

Hector Falls.
Who knew?  I probably did, but had forgotten all about it.
The road goes right over the center of the cascade,
but this top half is splendid even without the its lower counterpart.
Note the gnome.

Careful, Gnome.  Slippery on the wet rocks.
You might slip and...nevermind.

Hector Falls is uncharacteristic in that the underlying rock appears a lighter color than what is usually supporting falls in the area, and that it does not have much of a gorge.  I wonder if the rock is harder than the usual shale in the area, or if the flow has moved to this location in recent geological time.

Back at Keuka, the rain had stopped,
but the clouds remained.
I was able to get away with SPF 60.

Heron Hill winery in all its glory.
As for the name...Heron Hill?  Really?
Why not name the place for a more likely heron habitat?
"Sir, would you like to taste our Heron Swamp Sauvignon Blanc?
Or our Marsh Meritage? "

I've heard that NY is a blue state.
This shot proves that it's really a white state.
These pretty grapes are pretty great for making Riesling.

The walking stick has either seen better days,
or he is doing rear leg stretches.

Answering a call at Heron Hill.

Another happy server.
Why do you suppose the servers at wineries are so happy?

I think maybe Russ got into some bad wine.
Or perhaps he heard news of the Presidential Campaign.

Someone has a future in hand modeling.

Being a star,
the chef can grab people anywhere he wants.
He'll soon be a politician, no doubt.

Fall foliage?

Our travelers are also happy.
No doubts about why.

Finishing a fine day, all were treated to an amazing Keuka sunset.

When It Rains in the Finger Lakes

When it rains in the hills around the Finger Lakes, water hits the ground.

When water hits the ground, it runs mainly along the rocky surface of the steep hills surrounding the lakes until it finds one of the many pretty little ravines that feed the lakes every few hundred feet.

Then it splashes in lovely little cascades down from the hills, and into the lake.  

Tempting to sip if not for the agriculture going on above.

Most of the time.

Every once in a while, an especially strong storm dumps its load of rain directly into the watershed of a few of these streams, but even then, all is well since the water is contained in streambeds more than adequate to handle the volume of water.

Unless, of course, the highway that passes above the places of merriment below has a culvert that gets plugged with sticks and stones and even broken bones (bones not so often, but they could certainly plug the culvert).

The opening to the culvert is supposed to be just to the right of the puddle.
The stream is still flowing, so this small volume of water is getting through.
I hope there is no rain coming before the people we pay with our taxes
get back here to fully expose the opening.

When the culvert plugs, water no longer runs downhill for awhile.  It backs up and then flows over the highway and finds new unconventional paths of least resistance.

A rather disorienting view of the downhill side of the highway.
I'm surprised there was not more damage to the roadway.

I got a note from our neighbors.  "You're not going to like what happened to your beach."  So I had to investigate.

You may be thinking that dealing with damage on vacation property is a nice problem to have, and you'd be right, but such things are problems, nonetheless.

This is where we prefer the water to flow.
The log is new, so you can tell how much water was flowing even here.

I missed the beginning of the cleanup.
Here, some of the gravel washed down from above has been bulldozed
out of the road into a currently unusable parking spot.

You might ask, "Where did the gravel come from?"
Let's just say I would not park here now.

This back yard was never "lawn beautiful,"
but it was never a rock wash before.
Note that Hillbillies must have snuck in after the storm 
and placed that other stuff.
 

Water moves some pretty good size rocks.

I'm very happy that the water did not enter or undermine the building.

Like it did the driveway.

I commend David and Chaz for the work they did on these steps.
While much of the backfilled gravel has moved on,
the step-defining 4-by-4s did not budge.

While the steps did well, I can't say the same for the driveway down to the lake.
From the newly established ravine, it looks like a river ran through it.

Ferocious guard dog surveys the new rock garden that used to be a lawn.

It's great to have a new set of stepping stones to the boathouse.

Boats all still in place, but the post-storm water is full of debris.

We'll be happy if the stream stays in this channel in the future.

I took advantage of this new vantage point
on the newly formed point to make the following point.
A week ago, I'd have been standing here in water at least knee deep.

There were more leaf bags here before the storm.
Also, the raging water has provided me with a new opportunity for improving this parking spot.
Or perhaps I'll just leave the big hole beyond the cones
as a secret passage to the beach.

The beach has receded a bit, but that generally comes and goes.
The next storm may push some of it back up.
Do you like our "Man on Cellphone" statue near the back?

That little point out beyond the willow tree is new.
Perhaps it will stay, and the place will have more land!
And then I'm sure the taxes will go up accordingly.

Not great, but could have been much worse.  But I do wish I'd been there to see it happen.  There would have been great pictures, if I didn't get washed away.

AND NOW, 

A BONUS PHOTO WITH NO LINK TO THE NARRATIVE!

A really lovely stone house on a back road somewhere between Branchport and Canandaigua.
(OK, maybe the stones are a link.)

Keuka Shutdown 2014

Just a smattering of pictures and notes for the interested few.

The weather report called for sunny and high 60's, so even though I'm fighting a bit of a cold, I made the trip to the cottage.  On the way, I grabbed some pink stuff (the proper name for antifreeze), a new light bulb, and a pair of channel locks, which are always handy when transitioning the intra-pipe substance from fluid to gas.

"Dude, shouldn't you be in Mexico by now?"

He flew off in that direction when I moved in for a closer shot.

The compressor gets hooked up at the pump house, forcing air to the boathouse and the cottage.  I empty the water heaters first, and then blow out the rest of the pipes.  3 checks on each faucet seems to assure empty pipes.

At the boat house, there are 3 drain plugs that also come out to assure no standing water.  Chaz knows where the plugs are.

I drained the pump head.  On this new pump, there are three drain plugs on the front, and one on the back.  The one on the back did not come off easily, so I left it in place.  If I'm back in the area, I may give it a second try, but it should not matter because there are two lights (one brand new!) heating the well insulated pump house.

I attempted to make sure I did not turn off the circuit to the heating lights this year.  Probably a good thing to keep the pump for more than one year.

The solarium looks inviting.
Had there been time to lounge,
use of the new cover might have been in order.

Pink stuff went into all the drains and the toilets, which are really just fancy drains.  Also, the washer gets its dose during a spin cycle.

The steady wind blew briskly from the southwest.
It was a good day for windsurfing,
but I'm not quite that daring.

I ran up and down the cousin-installed steps again and again, appreciating them more as time goes on.

Pipes empty (I hope), the refrigerators were emptied into coolers for later distribution.  No, I did not remember that the frozen burger patties were from the gathering prior to the wedding.  And I need a new rule:  "All mass market beer will be consumed first so that the leftovers are gustatory delights."

I wasn't quite sure what to do about the buoy.
I think I'll solicit Charley's input.
I tied the raft off to two different places since it is down far enough
that high water could float it away.

Papa Keith once told me that one person can take the dock out.
I verified the supposition, but have limited desire to repeat the experiment.
I wonder where that section-connecting nut went.

 The boat needs to be winterized so I will see if Captain Kirk Hallenbeck can handle that task.

Always beautiful, no matter what time of year.

Love those willows.