Watkins Glen

When Mike and I were planning our trip, Mike wanted to make sure we got to go to a game in Pittsburgh, and I wanted to make sure we got to Watkins Glen State Park.  I don't think I would have ever known about this place, but I read Our Best Bites blog every once in a while and they had a post about taking their family there last summer.  It looked so cool that I wanted to go check it out too.  It was a total highlight.  

Our first stop was Montour Falls.  I am a bridge lover.  So, it was so fun to see this bridge and then go under it for some pictures.

I binge watched Gilmore Girls last year and this view of the little town reminded me of that show.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can barely see the steeple of the church in the center.

I decided that I had to document the big juicy van (as Mike called it).  It wasn't a bad ride!  Very comfortable to drive and we loved the apple play that showed our navigation and played our music right through the screen and the van speakers. 

So, this is Montour falls.

Mike loved the old cars and truck parked across the street.

Watkins Glen was having some work done on the main entrance, so we had a hard time figuring out where to go, but as soon as we did, it was amazing.  I loved all the stairs and the colors.  I wish my camera could show how things really were.

We never found the trail for this bridge over the gorge, but it was cool to see!

It's low light, so my camera doesn't pick up the orange of the leaves that have fallen, but it was so pretty next to the dark gray of the rock.

It's a 2 mile hike with 17 falls to see.  I loved every one of them.  It was just amazing.  I loved to look up and see the brilliant blue sky.  We had the best weather that week.  High 70's.  We seriously had the best luck with everything!

Most of the leaves of this area had already turned and fallen.  I did find one really vibrant tree though, so I photographed it because I took this trip into the countryside for the fall colors. 

I didn't wish to have the kids with us when we were in the city.  They would have made life super stressful and more expensive for everything.  But I did wish that they could have taken this hike with us.  They would have loved all the water and the twists and turns as they hiked along the river.  It was great to do it with just Mike though.  He doesn't try to jump into the water or run so fast that I am afraid for his life.  He's a calm and perfect hiking partner.