Road Trip: A Wet Morning, Fattening Food and Wine Country,

Our road trip is going very well.  We encounter both the expected and unexpected each day, which is part of the adventure.

We spent a very wet morning, visiting Niagara Falls.

The falls are truly magnificent and pictures do not adequately describe the beauty and power of the falls.

And, no – we didn’t fall in 😉

We visited the Canadian side, which has a better view of the falls.

The ground was so wet from the mist generated from the falls.

These tulips didn’t have a chance with the sopping wet soil.

I also had to be careful with my camera because of the mist.  I would take a photo quickly and then cover up my camera.

After spending the morning at Niagara Falls, we headed toward the Finger Lakes region of New York, which is in the central part of the state.

On our way, we saw a sign for an Amish swap meet.

So of course, we had to stop by.

There were many different vendors and we saw some very nice items along with the more ‘traditional’ flea market stuff.

I had fun seeing all the food choices there.  It reminded me of ‘fair food’.  Here is a sampling of what we saw…

“Gramma’s Butterflied Potatoes” are basically a huge mound of freshly-fried potato chips covered with cheese.

My favorite food in the whole world is bread and when I saw this sign, I must admit that I was sorely tempted…

But, I resisted the temptation.

The Belgian waffle also looked good.

Next, we headed to the plant section…

Spring is in full swing and there are beautiful container combinations everywhere you looked…

It was a hot day…about 89 degrees and a bit humid, so I took the opportunity to sit for a few minutes on an ‘Adirondack’ chair.

I admired the fresh vegetables…

Before leaving, we stopped to buy fresh bread from an Amish woman and her little brother….

We bought a inexpensive foam cooler for the car where we keep some fresh Amish cheese, fruit and bread for snacking on.

We arrived in Geneva, which is in New York’s wine country.  Geneva is located right on the shore of Seneca lake.

Because there were many different wineries, we stopped by one to buy some wine for my youngest sister and her husband.

While my mother tasted the wine and made her selection, I headed out to a small garden I saw next to the store…

Wine Country

Wine Country

Did you know that there is a species of Prickly Pear that is native to New York?  According to the sign above, there is.  

I just loved seeing succulents planted in an old pair of boots.

I love Dicentra, don’t you?

The poppies were huge…

Wine Country

Grapevines and the beginnings of grapes…

The water from the lake helps to keep the vineyards warm enough to grow grapes.

As we left the winery, we spotted a red fox trotting by the roadside.

He was awfully cute and since we don’t have foxes where I live, we stopped by the road to watch him.

He didn’t care that we were nearby – he was concentrating on catching dinner…  

He did catch dinner while we watched and swallowed it in one gulp.

We had a fabulous day 🙂

Our next stop is to the historical places and picturesque towns of upstate New York.

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."