Threatening Skies, Cooling Off (Hiking The Westside Trail: Stebbins to Bates, K-J)

7:10

Up at 6:45, a slash of light off towards the east shoreline.  It's 48º outside, 60º inside, fleece weather both in and out.  We have yet to light the pilot on our gas fireplace but it is going to happen soon as the days continue to get cooler.  And later today, our dock comes in, another sign of the coming of colder weather.

Bates Road Trail Head

Despite the rain Wednesday night, the wet lawn, we decided to chance a hike on the last leg of the Westside Overland Trail (we will have completed all 24 miles of the trail), wearing our waterproof hiking boots in case of wet trails.  Fortunately, the sun came out as we started our walk on Stebbins Road, and we hiked to Bates Road and back, a little over four miles.  It was one of our favorite hikes, perhaps because of the sun but also variety of trails, through woods, ravines, over creeks, wetlands, along large hay fields of green, colorful forests in the distance.  The middle 1/10th of the trail was through wetlands but fortunately, boards set on blocks, forded most of the wet areas so we hardly got wet.  As usual, we were the only ones on the trail though we did see a ATV parked and wondered if he was a bow hunter, out for deer.  We had forgotten to wear our lime colored shirts, to easily identify ourselves in case of hunters, so we made ourselves evident by occasionally yelling, "Coming Through" or "Hiking," just in case.  We will bring a whistle next time, wear the bright jerseys, especially since deer season starts in full force in a couple of weeks.  We were out just about two hours, happy to be outside on a day in which we thought it would rain, excited to have walked the entire trail over the past two years.  

Fall Countryside Near Sherman

Trails

Boardwalks Over Wet Lands

The rest of the day till about 5:00 was sunny though cool, too windy to  stay on the dock for long and was probably the last day for our dock life.  A good part of the afternoon Evie spent decorating Halloween cookies for our grandchildren, a time consuming project, involving spreading the white sugar coating on each cookie, then sprinkling them with colored sugar.  I baked my bread with trepidation since the dough was wetter than I remember, but it turned out great looking, brown with a hallow sound when knocked on with your knuckles.  Today we will see how tasty it is, what the texture is like, the key to a good bread.

Bread

At 5:00, just as it started to rain, we went into Lakewood, to do a few errands, bank, wine store, and Wegmans before driving to Frewsburg, about 20 miles away, to have dinner at The Corner Coffee House & Bistro.  We have been there once before but wanted to go back when they had music. Fortunately, octogenarian Pete Petke and his band were playing from 6-8, a group of guys of all ages, playing the best of the 1930's and 1940's Big Band and Dixieland music, the kind of music my Dad would have loved.  They were really good, especially the clarinet player, and Pete entertained the small audience with his sense of humor.  Our meals were average, not as good as we hoped, though the menu is interesting.  Evie ordered the roasted salmon with pineapple, me a pasta carbonara.  And the service left something to be desired as our waitress was certainly not overly officious.  The best part was the music, the food secondary, at least that evening.  And Pete and his buddy, like two bird dogs,  zeroed in on our table (Evie) at break, sat down and talked with us for ten minutes about their lives as musicians, quite busy playing three or four times a week,  even at their age.  They were a couple of characters, fun to talk with, and we realized later that they had played at the Rod and Gun the last time we were there, about three weeks ago.

Evie with Razz Rasmusson, clarinetist and Pete Petke. trombonist

Chef Joseph Sharing Fresh Pasta Secrets

We were home by 8:15, early enough to watch a couple of more episodes of the fifth season of Damages, which we are liking more and more.  We were both in bed at our usual time, 11:00, to read before falling asleep.