Rochester, NY
6:22 PM
I’m going through my book chapters to pull out quotes that will go into the margin and also do the end of chapter summaries. This morning the retired Navy Captain talked about how important his relationship was with his father and what an influence he was in his life. As I read that, the beaming sun and blue sky called out to me. So did the forecast for tomorrow, which is 100% rain. So I talked to my dad and off we went to the outdoors and a hike next to the Genesee River.
The Genesee Riverway Trail is a newly publicized walk next to one of the few rivers that flow north, The Genesee. Some of you older readers might know the beer Genesee Cream Ale or Genny Light. They come from this river. Younger folks might know JW Dundee’s Honey Brown or Kipling.
After lunch and some work, we hit the trail at about 3:15. The sun was still shining and we parked close to the now defunct Fast Ferry that used to run to and from Toronto. Walking south, on the west side of the trail, we started past boat slip after boat slip. The river is approximately 125 feet wide and the trees were beginning to change.
The sun was blocked to our side of the river by the trees. The shady places made my long sleeve t not enough. In the sun, it was fine. We walked in a quick pace in the 60 degree air, passing the boat slips and emerging next to the water with nothing next to us. As we progressed a large trail/bridge took us over a bend in the river to Turning Point Park. This is a park I used to go to as a hellion teenager.
A lot of memories came back to me as we walked. Many afternoons were spent in the parking lot of the park and down by the river. An after funeral outing was the most prevalent on my mind.
A man was fishing on one of the outposts and the birds flying against the sun were beautiful. The colors of the trees were not in full bloom, but they were close. We took a break on an outpost, drank some water and snacked. Approaching us was a huge boat, not a motor boat or sail boat, but an ocean liner. It turns out the security guard that was there told us it was a cement boat, stopping to drop off a load to a cement plant up the hill.
I now realized why they called it Turning Point Park. From what I understood, the boat would empty its cargo, back up to the point where the bridge ran over the river and head back into Lake Ontario, back out the way it came in.
Dad and I enjoyed our outside time. At the point where I think the boat turns around, we stopped and watched huge fish jumping out of the water. I think the fisherman left too early. The biggest fish had to be 3 feet in length and got all of its body out of the water on its leap. Mother Nature is awesome. And so is spending quality time outside with your dad.
My legs are sore and now that I’m back inside, I’m worn out.
Here is the link to the Trail.
http://www.ci.rochester.ny.us/prhs/Parks/index.cfm?action=showvenu&type=trail&id=93
I’ll put some pictures from the walk up shortly.