Rest Day- Cayuga Lake State Park, and Seneca Falls.

We woke up in the morning at the Microtel in Seneca Falls, rested and ready to go.  Not far to ride- we are riding to Cayuga Lake State Park where we will stay the night- Originally our plan had been to spend two nights at this state park- but the day of torrential rain changed our plans- and on a bike trip, flexibility is a must!  The sun is out and it is a relatively flat and easy ride about 6 miles to the state park.  Once we get there we will dry out our tents and the Turners wet sleeping bags! in the sun.

                                                                     Heading to Cayuga Lake

Rolling up and down the hills to Cayuga Lake State Park

 

First view of the lake

Setting up camp at Cayuga Lake State Park.  WE get the tents right up as some of them are wet.  Some of the group will stay and relax at the camp.  Liz and Betsy are going grocery shopping for the group.  Joe, Margie, Greg, Emma, Betsy, Catherine, Jack and Jonathan are heading into Seneca Falls.  Jonathan and Jack make a beeline for the food, as it is never enough for two teenage boys!  Greg and Emma head to a coffee shop.  The rest of us head to the "It's A Wonderful Life Museum".

So, "It's a Wonderful Life" the movie is supposedly based on a true story of an event that occurred here in Seneca Falls.  And the town of Seneca Falls is supposed to be the town that "Bedford Falls" was based on.  Apparently, Frank Capra, the screenwriter had recently visited Seneca Falls before he published his screenplay and made some changes to his original draft based on what he learned about the town.
First, the story:  So, "It's A Wonderful Life" is based on a short story by Phillip Van Doren Stern called," The Greatest Gift".  In the book, a man contemplates suicide by jumping off a bridge when a guardian angel rescues him and makes him reflect on his life.  In 1917, in the town of Seneca Falls, a young woman jumped off the steel bridge in town into the river below, attempting to commit suicide.  A young man who had just immigrated from Italy, by the name of Antonio Varacalli saw her and jumped in after her- He swam her to shore where another man had waded out.  Varacalli shoved the young woman to safety in the arms of the other man, then too fatigued to get out, disappeared under the waters of the river and lost his life.  The community wept for this young man and considered him a hero.  They collected money from the townspeople and brought his family over from Italy.  Today in Seneca Falls, you can see the steel bridge where this scenario played out.  There are bells all over the bridge where Antonio Varacalli lost his life and drowned.  Joe and Margie visited the bridge.  Frank Capra was in the final stages of writing the screenplay for "It's A Wonderful Life" and there are a number of other similarities between the fictional "Bedford Falls" and the real "Seneca Falls".  Many of the original actors and actresses who were in the movie also recognize the connection.

The bridge is over the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and if you look closely, you can see the bells on the bridge that signify "everytime a bell rings, an angel gets its wings>" the line that little Zuzu says in the movie.

Here is a photo of the museum.  The docent at the museum loved Joe and I as we asked so many questions and he was just thrilled to tell us all of the information he knew.

Jonathan and Jack
 in front of the museum.

Group photo in front of the museum.

And the greatest thing?  Every year at Christmastime, Seneca Falls hosts a Christmas Festival based on the movie.  The sign leading into town becomes, "Bedford Falls" and they get many of the child actors and actresses who played the Bailey children to come to the event.  I am dying to go!  Sounds so fun!

Well, who would've thought a small town could have so much history?  Our next stop was the Women's Rights Museum, which I have been wanting to see for the last number of years- The girls and I went, I only wish Liz and Betsy could have seen it too- Empowering!

The first Women's Rights Convention was held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY.  It was held for two days in July and launched the women's suffrage movement in the United States.   Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were the leaders at the convention.

Here is Elizabeth Cady Stanton
And the other women and men who organized this convention:

Amongst the women was Frederick Douglas who was a champion of women's rights as well as an abolitionist.

Love the slogan- Still appropo in today's world.

At the convention, the women drew up a Declaration of Sentiments
Here is part of it:

"WE hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal, and should be treated equally under the law." Sure took a long time for that to be realized!

The girls outside the museum.

Abby and Catherine

Emma

After the museum, we headed back to camp- Here are a few shots of our camp at Cayuga Lake State Park:

Making bracelets!

Our 'Tent City"

The kids just hangin'

Lyle and Greg

Liz relaxing at camp

Christopher 

and David play some frisbee 

Great night at Cayuga Lake.  Tomorrow is our last day.  Everyone is clamoring for a longer trip next time!  Tomorrow we ride from Cayuga Lake State Park to Syracuse ( about 44 miles)

Riding Day 4- Torrential Downpour! Macedon Lock 30 - Seneca Falls, NY (38 miles)

We wake up to rain!  In fact- it begins in the middle of the night and Catherine and I start getting wet from leaks in our tent!  Lyle gets up and moves all the bikes to a spot under the pavillion and throws the tarp over our tent in an effort to keep us dryer.  When a tent fails in the first 10 minutes of a rainstorm- it is time for a new tent!  Luckily we had planned for the rain and we ate breakfast under the pavillion.  In fact, on David's suggestion, Regan's carry their tent over to the pavillion to take it down, so they don't get too wet!  Go David!

Breakfast under the pavilion at Lock 30

Joe- 'How much cereal do I need to eat to keep warm?

Christopher- doing a little practicing for the ride in the rain.

Lyle, drinking the morning coffee.  Lyle is our resident mechanic- He can really fix anything.  This ride we did not have any flats thankfully.  Lyle made a few seat and handlebar adjustments.  He is also amazing at backing up the van, which Joe and Margie will testify is not that easy lugging a trailer.  

Jack in raingear, ready to ride!  Jack is Jonathan's friend and he came on our trip on the Great Allegheny Passage two years ago.  We are all thrilled that he is here again.  He gets along with everyone, is easygoing and fun and never complains.  On this trip, Jack proved that he has become a great rider- he was riding right along with Joe up some of the hills in the rain!  And now I would say he is everyone's friend.  Just hope he can keep coming on our trips because we love to have him!

Everyone is getting ready to ride in the rain- They know it could be a rough day, but there was no complaining!  Ready to ride!

Betsy on her way.  And this picture gives an insight into Betsy.  Betsy's role in the group is main planner/manager, and cook.  But even more important, she is a great problem solver and always looks at life with a positive, "can do" attitude.  There have been so many times when we had to overcome an obstacle and she has figured a way out or a way to "make do".  It is this positive outlook that keeps people motivated when the chips are down-

Here I am, riding off into the rain!  I am also a main planner/manager and cook along with Betsy.  As I have a "planner" personality, I like to have things set well in advance- sometimes it takes Betsy to mellow me out a bit.

Lyle in his new rain gear.

And they're off!  The group from the back pedaling off into a memorable day.  ( Photo courtesy of Liz)

As we get on the trail, it really starts to downpour.  Everyone has varying degrees of raingear- but by and large after a few hours of riding in the rain, you are going to be wet.  And worse than that- you might be cold, which can be tough to take.  We have been riding maybe 30 minutes when it starts to thunder and lightning.  Scary!  Joe is in the lead and up ahead I see a road overpass- I yell to him, but he has the same idea as I and we stop to take refuge from the storm under the over pass.

We are safe!

We wait out the thunder and lighting and are ready to go again.
The kids are amazing- no complaints.

Back on the trail.

THIS is how hard it rained!  We need to get on this road as the on-road portion of the Erie Canal Trail.  

Here we go- Riding through the flash flood!  It was weird you could feel the current as your tires went through!  Notice our mud splattered backs from a morning of rain on the trail.

Heading towards lunch.

Greg and Liz were driving the van today.  They did an awesome job!  Liz had hot water ready for us to have hot chocolate and coffee when we came in to lunch!  Greg made reservations at the Microtel in Seneca Falls- so we will be dry tonight.  Some of the kids are getting in the van for the afternoon.  Still riding are:  Joe, Betsy, Lyle, Me, Emma, Jack and Christopher.  Everyone else will help Greg and Liz with the van driving duties.  Go Jack!

We had a great night at the microhotel and went to eat at a local diner in Seneca Falls that had good reviews.  Rest day tomorrow- We will bike after breakfast to Cayuga Lake State Park and set up camp.  The weather is supposed to dry out- Let's hope it does!