GoPro Video | The Beauty Around Us

Chincoteague VA Vacation (3rd post)

As we had done each morning, while on vacation in Virginia, we got up around 6:00 am on Easter Sunday, April 17th.

We didn’t see the sun actually rise today,
as it was hidden behind clouds.

The temperature was around 50 degrees at sunrise. The sun did break through the clouds later in the morning and gave us sunny skies. It was a chilly day, though, with a high temperature of 58 degrees. The weather in Chincoteague was better than back in our hometown of Warren PA. At sunrise the temperature in Warren was 31 degrees, with some snow on the ground!

Bob prepared Easter breakfast.
We enjoyed a breakfast of corned beef hash, eggs, toast and orange juice.

Late morning we drove to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and parked in the Wildlife Loop parking lot. We rode our bicycles from the parking lot, alongside Beach Road to the seashore.

We rode our bicycles to Assateague Beach.

Back on Beach Road, near Toms Cove Visitor Center, a few birds held our attention for a while.

The Snowy Egret was alone, until …

A second Snowy Egret arrived on the scene.

The first Snowy Egret chased the second Snowy Egret away.

We returned to the parking lot via Black Duck Trail and the Wildlife Loop (with a detour to Swan Cove). The wind was fierce at times. We rode flat ground but, even in first gear, I felt as though I were pedaling up a hill. We rode 7.85 miles, and that was a wrap for riding our bicycles this vacation. The next day was chilly, windy and rainy.

Bob captured video with our GoPro7 camera, during our three bicycle rides. He prepared a video recap from our bicycling adventures.

We bicycled a total of 17.89 miles, while on vacation.

Our lunch was ice cream at the Island Creamery. We visit the Island Creamery each time we vacation in Chincoteague. Bob had two scoops of Java Jolt in a cup. I had two scoops of ice cream in a cup too — one scoop of Cadbuy Crème Egg and one scoop of peanut butter cup.

After “lunch” we returned to Airbnb “Tranquil Shores” and relaxed.

Around 4:00 pm we prepared Easter dinner – grilled ham steak, macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables and, for dessert, cheesecake.

Early evening we returned to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. We drove around the Wildlife Loop twice and drove to the seashore. We returned to “Tranquil Shores” via downtown Chincoteague. We stopped briefly at Chincoteague Veteran’s Memorial Park. This is a lovely waterfront park, located on Eastside Road. The Park has tennis courts, basketball courts, playground equipment, fishing/crabbing pier, ball field, boat ramp, skate park, pavilion and restrooms.

Back at “Tranquil Shores” we watched an episode of “Vera”, before going to bed.

Easter Vacation 2021

Today, April 1st, is the first day of our Easter vacation. We will be on vacation through the 9th of April.

We departed our home in Warren PA at 6:00 am en route Chincoteague VA. Bob programmed the GPS to avoid highways.

We planned to bring our bicycles with us to Chincoteague but decided not to do so, given the weather forecast for the day. Bob commented a couple times, while driving, that he is happy that we aren’t transporting the bicycles, given today’s snow and rainy conditions.

Mother Nature is playing a trick on us today, on April Fool’s Day. We encountered light snow flurries, as we left Warren, and heavier snow flurries past Ridgway. The ground and house roofs past Ridgway showed a dusting of snow.

We stopped for breakfast in Clearfield at Dutch Pantry, our favorite breakfast stop when traveling East.

We stopped at Fisherman’s Park at Conowingo Dam, where we saw one eagle, a few great blue herons, and many vultures.

I photographed the eagle, which was sitting in a tree across the river.

From Fisherman’s Park we drove over the Conowingo Dam. It was a short distance to our hotel.

Bob captured video, during today’s drive.

We checked into the Best Western Chesapeake Bay North Inn in North East, MD around 2:00 pm. We stayed here in November last year, while en route Chincoteague. The hotel is our home for the night. We will drive from here to Chincoteague, VA tomorrow.

Tonight’s dinner was take out at Hunan Wok, located across the road from our hotel. Bob ordered Shrimp Lo Mein; I ordered Sweet n Sour Chicken. Both meals were served with Roast Pork Fried Rice and Egg Roll. Meals were reasonably priced and tasted good. We ordered by phone, and Bob drove across the road to pick up our take-out dinners. We ate in the comfort of our hotel room.

We watched a couple episodes of Law &Order: Special Victims Unit on Hulu. We have a LONG way to go until we catch up to the current season, Season 21, as we are currently watching episodes from Season 8.

I went to bed, after watching Hulu. Bob stayed up for a while working on the GoPro video of the drive here.

Letchworth State Park Day Trip

We took advantage of the sunny day on Sunday, February 21st by going for a drive.

We drove to Letchworth State Park, which is located 35 miles south of Rochester, NY. The park, often referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the East”, is a spectacular place. The park’s magnificent scenery includes waterfalls and a gorge. We have visited Letchworth State Park many times over the years. We enjoy our visit each time we go.

If you visit Letchworth State Park in the winter, it is important to note that the Portageville Gate is closed for the season. In addition Park Road closes seasonally between the Perry and Castile gates.

We entered Letchworth State Park, around noon, via the Castile Gate and turned right onto Park Road. Our first stop was opposite Archery Field.

Archery Field Overlook of Genesee River and Gorge

I see a shadow of a person holding a basket on his head, where the frozen water has thawed. Do you?

Our second stop was at Inspiration Point.

At Inspiration Point visitors are blessed with a spectacular vista that overlooks the Genesee River and Gorge. Upstream you see two waterfalls – the Middle Falls and the Upper Falls. A train trestle spans above the Upper Falls.

Inspiration Point – Middle Falls

Inspiration Point – Upper Falls

Our next stop was at the Glen Iris Inn, where we enjoyed another view of the Middle Falls. We got to see the Glen Iris fountain as an ice tower as well.

Middle Falls as seen from Glen Iris Inn grounds

Bob took this video of the Glen Iris Fountain with our GoPro camera.

Bob took this picture of the two of us as well.

Bob and I with Glen Iris Fountain in the background

I found a video on Facebook that explains how the Glen Iris fountain works and why it freezes into a beautiful ice tower during cold winters. Please click here to view that video.

Our next (and last) stops were at the Upper and Middle Falls.

The Upper Falls had some water flow, but the falls were mostly frozen.

Likewise, the Middle Falls had some water fall but were mostly frozen.

The ice along the cliff at Middle Falls was particularly beautiful.

In total we spent about 1 1/2 hours at Letchworth State Park. We couldn’t ask for a better winter day for our visit to the park. It was a picture perfect day!

Couple Minutes of Crazy (Fun)

We took our granddaughters sled riding at Pool Hill in Youngsville, PA.

Earlier today I published a blog post about taking our granddaughters sled riding. In that blog post I shared a video that I had taken.

Bob also captured video, using our GoPro camera.

Bob compiled several video clips into one video. I especially love two edits that Bob did with the video. He zoomed in on the girls walking hand in hand up the sledding hill. He added slow motion to two wipeouts, and zoomed in as well.