Today is our one full day back home. We have to head back down to Peekskill tomorrow around lunch time. We slept in a bit today. Dominica and I did not sleep in all that much. The girls, however, slept a very long time. Their sleeping schedule is completely disrupted at this point and they are no longer on any normal schedule. They stay up super late and sleep in super late. Dominica will probably try to blame this on my being home all of the time. I have no idea how that makes it my fault.
While we were waiting for the girls to get up we visited and I set up Dominica’s “old” desktop (the one that is identical to my own) and started installing Windows 10 Technology Preview on it. Art is going to be using that desktop once we get it all set up and working properly. I figured that if I got started early that we would have a good chance of getting it all taken care of today. So far, after having gotten Windows 1o onto Dominica’s laptop two nights ago, we are pretty impressed with it. It is the nicest Windows product to use in several generations. A clear improvement on Windows 8.1 which is what I use most of the time.
Once the girls were finally awake we loaded into the Acadia and went to Mt. Morris to get lunch at Brian’s USA Diner. Dad and I both got the fish and chips. Dominica got breakfast. The girls split pancakes.
After lunch we drove into Letchworth State Park. Believe it or not this place that was so central to my childhood, neither of my girls have ever been there. Unbelievable. They were mostly excited to go to go there because they got to see some pictures of the gorge and the waterfalls while at the diner so they had an idea of what they were going to get to see.
We first stopped at the dam overlook. Dominica hit the giftshop there to get postcards for friends in Texas and to get some surprises for the girls. She got Liesl a black bear that can be stuffed into a giant paw (you have to see it to understand.) And she got Luciana a raccoon. While she was in there, the girls sat on a giant chair that sits at the overlook and just hung out on it thinking that, for some strange reason, that that was the best thing around to do. They pretty much ignored the view of the canyon and the dam. Although, to be fair, there was no river flowing. It was all dry.
We finally got them to leave the chair and we drove on. We went to the Tea Table area where they spent maybe twenty minutes playing on a tiny playground there. They were itching to be out of the car and do something. They associate parks with playgrounds so were expecting playground time. Each time that we got out of the car we took some pictures with Flat Stanley whom we brought with us.
Next we went to Inspiration Point and walked around a little. They have done a bit of work there this past year fixing the stonework up around the little pond. This is the first that the girls got to see the waterfalls.
Our last stop was the upper falls area. We parked by the Upper Falls Snack Bar and we got a coffee for Dominica and ice cream for the girls and I. We finished the ice cream and then walked over to the Middle Falls to show it to the girls. There was a wedding going on right there while we were looking at the falls. Then Liesl, dad and Dominica went to look at the falls more and I took a rather impatient Luciana to the large playground there and let her work off some energy. Liesl came over later and used the swings there a lot. It started raining while dad, Dominica and I sat on a bench swing.
From the falls we drove out the Castile exit and back to dad’s house. Sharon and Leo were already at the house waiting for us. The plan had been to do a sofa ride through the woods but it was getting cold and there was a light rain and there wasn’t enough time for Dominica and I to go as well because we had to get up to Rochester to meet Tricia. So we had to skip the sofa ride tonight.
We left at four twenty five and drove up to the South Wedge to meet Tricia and Kathy at 140 Alex, near where I used to hang out when I still lived in Rochester. The place was empty when we first arrived but after a few hours was really busy. We had a really good time hanging out there. We stayed until just after eleven.
We got home and dad was pretty exhausted from watching the girls all night. They were finally in bed but they were wide awake still. It took a bit to get them to calm down and really go to sleep.