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Labor Day Weekend 2015: Horseheads NY to Warren PA

Republished August 3, 2021

This is Day 4, the last day of our Labor Day weekend vacation.

We checked out of Rodeway Inn Marshall Manor in Horseheads, NY shortly before 7:45 am and left en route Letchworth State Park, where we plan to meet up with some motorcycling friends from our 2 Scoop CycleTherapy group.

En route Letchworth State Park, we stopped at Stony Brook State Park. The NY Empire Passport provided free day use vehicle entry into the park. We went for a walk on the gorge trail, where we saw several small waterfalls along the creek bed and one bigger one.

Stony Brook Pool Falls

Stony Brook Pool

Stony Brook Bridge

Waterfall

The gorge trail was fairly easy to walk, even given the steps. While at the larger waterfall, our friend Mark telephoned and said the 2 Scoop CycleTherapy group was in Portville and their ETA was about 1 ½ hours. I told Mark that we would meet the group at the parking lot near the Railroad High Bridge, located a short way from the Portageville entrance to Letchworth State Park. Shortly before Bob and I reached the park I telephoned Mark from the 7-Eleven store in Nunda, where we stopped for gas and picnic lunch fixings. I expected to leave a message of our ETA. Mark answered the phone. Our friends were still in Portville. One of our friends could ride no longer, as she was experiencing severe back pain. They wouldn’t leave her until they knew she had a ride home. The new ETA for our friends became 12:30-1:00 pm.

Bob and I arrived at Letchworth State Park around 11:30 am, which was the time we had expected to meet our friends. The Empire Passport provided free day use vehicle entry into the park. We parked at the parking lot near the Railroad High Bridge.

Railroad High Bridge
our planned meeting place

While awaiting our friends’ arrival, we were pleasantly surprised by a chance encounter with a friend and her son whom we hadn’t seen in several years! Lisa S., her boyfriend Darcy, and Lisa’s son Michael emerged at the top of the gorge trail, where Bob and I were sitting. The three of them had hiked the trail from the William Pryor Letchworth Museum, near the Glen Iris Inn. What a nice surprise to see Lisa and her son after so many years. It was nice to meet Darcy as well.

We were so busy catching up that I didn’t think to take a picture of Lisa, Darcy and Michael while we were talking. I did, however, take a picture as they left to hike back to their car.

Our 2 Scoop CycleTherapy group friends arrived around 12:40 pm.

Our friends at the Portageville entrance

From the Portageville entrance we rode to the parking lot between Middle Falls and Upper Falls. We ate a picnic lunch together near Upper Falls.

Picnic Lunch

After lunch, we saw Upper Falls and Middle Falls.

Mark and Faye
and John and Carol at Upper Falls

It was a hot day and a hot ride!
John and Renate
and George and Trudy
relax before heading over to Middle Falls.

Middle Falls

We parted ways, after seeing the falls. Our friends continued their ride in the park, and we left for home leaving by way of the Portageville entrance. We returned home around 5:30 pm.

The weekend weather, although hot and humid, was beautiful. We drove 689 miles during the weekend. It was great to get away for the weekend and to be able to meet up with our friends at Letchworth.

A Sleep Over, Breakfast at Sprague’s and Two State Parks

Our almost 7-month-old granddaughter, June, spent Friday night (December 14th) with us. June’s visit went extremely well. She was bathed, in her sleeper, fed and in bed by 5;30 pm. June cried for only a short time before she fell asleep. She slept pretty much through the night, awakening around 5:45 am the next day. We enjoyed having June sleep over at our house and look forward to Harper sleeping over in the near future.

Stacey, Mike and Harper arrived at our house around 8:15 am. The six of us left home shortly thereafter, en route Sprague’s Maple Farms Restaurant in Portville, NY. Looking at the map shown below, you will see that Sprague’s Maple Farms is quite a distance from our home. The excellent food, great service and total ambiance found at Sprague’s is definitely worth the ride. Moreover, breakfast at Sprague’s has become a Christmas tradition for our family. Our tradition began in 2007. We have missed only one year, 2008, since then. Breakfast at Sprague’s is something that we look forward to each year.

Warren, PA to Sprague’s Maple Farms in Portville, NY

After a delicious and hearty breakfast Stacey, Mike and the girls began their drive back home, while Bob and I drove an additional hour north to Letchworth State Park.

Sprague’s Maple Farms in Portville, NY to Letchworth State Park

Bob and I have visited Letchworth State Park numerous times. Our last visit, though, was in July 2008. It was time for another visit! The park, often referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the East”, is a spectacular place. The park’s magnificent scenery includes waterfalls (three major ones on the Genesee River) and a gorge. We entered the park from the Portageville entrance and drove north along Park Road. I discovered shortly before arriving at Letchworth State Park that, although I had my digital SLR, I had failed to bring a memory card with me. We made a few stops on our drive through the park. All photographs were taken with my iPhone camera.

Upper Falls

Middle Falls

Gorge View

Gorge View – Hogback Overlook

We left Letchworth State Park at its north end, at the Mount Morris exit. We told the GPS to take us home. The GPS took us home a different way thanwe were accustomed. Our normal route home takes us along the western side of the park. The GPS took us home along the eastern side of the park. The new route home resulted in our discovery of Stony Brook State Park, near Dansville, NY (letter “B” on the map shown below).

Mt. Morris, NY to Warren, PA

According to its website, Stony Brook State Park’s terrain is hilly with lots of woods. There is a deep gorge with rugged cliffs that overlook three waterfalls. We saw one of the waterfalls. The other two were on a trail that was closed for the season.

This used to be the Stony Brook park swimming pool. State budget restraints have kept the swimming pool closed for the past 3 years, according to a Dansville Online news article.

Bob and I hope to return to both Letchworth and Stony Brook state parks sometime in the new year.

**Republished August 3, 2021**

Republished August 3, 2021