New York - Day 1

My first trip to New York.  Not to the city but to Ithaca, NY.  Its been my goal to be in upstate New York for the changing of the leaves and as luck would have it my two buddies Clint and Jordan Garrett live here.  I flew into Rochester and after sleeping in a sleazy motel room that reeked of cigarets and had a toilet that ran all night.  I hopped into my Chevy Sonic rental car and cruised down west side of Seneca Lake.  It is the largest and deepest of the finger lakes at 618 feet deep.  The lay of the land really impressed me.  Unfortunately, there isn't any open land like we have here in Texas but farms and breweries and wineries and  little communities they call villages.  It rained off and on all day which made me a little nervous driving such a mousy little car down a two lane highway but it handled well.  

I found this in the Village of Dresden.  The thought of such a close knit community really makes me wonder how we live our lives where everything is mine, mine, mine. 

Just off of 14 I found this cool little Diner and stopped for some much needed breakfast.

After a few bites I remembered to take a photo.  Strange hot sauce they have up there.  It was kinda sweet with a little hint of mustard.  I prefer the Texas kind. 

At the southern tip of Seneca Lake is the cool little town of Watkins Glen.  I stopped and walked around the Marina for a while and got some cool shots. 

I knew Clint wouldn't be home for another day so I had some time to kill and decided to check out the Finger Lakes National Forest.  Wow! It was so cool driving through.  I've never seen the red, yellow and orange leaves of fall on this scale before and was in awe at the beauty.  

Turkey!

I decided to hike a few of the smaller trails in the forest. 

This is a 360 degree view from the forest. 

Then I decided to slow down my shutter speed and go for a run.

I ran about 3 miles and snapped a ton of pictures.  I thought they turned out pretty cool. 

You can't go to New York with getting a slice of pizza and after the hiking and running I was starving. 

This is Philip Crimens.  He owns Puddledockers, a rental/ retail store for all of your kayaking needs.

If your in the neighborhood stop by and say hi.

Taughannock Falls 

The tallest single drop waterfall this side of the Rockies at 215 feet. 

My friend Rachel serving up one of her delicious dishes at the Trumansburg farmers market.

Iron Owl Kitchen

Soooo Goooood!

I arrived at my buddy Clint's later that night.  Such a cool place to call home.  No internet, no cell signal, no television.  No central heat or air conditioning.  Just a bad ass wood fire stove. 

The water comes straight from a natural spring that is 40 feet below the house and is the best tasting water I've ever had. 

He made most of the shelves and furniture out of used pallets.

And he has chickens.

This was all from day one.  Stay tuned for more photos from my tip to New York.

Also, you can check out more of my work on this blog or my website at http://www.dustindoskocilphotography.com/