October 15 Mystery Tour

I went on another First Choice Travel Mystery Tour!!! Woo Hoo!!! I do love day trips where I pay good money to get on a bus in the morning and the only thing I know about where I’m going is that I won’t be more than four hours away, what time we’re leaving and getting back, and that we’ll have a great lunch!!! FUN!!! LOL

This one was a little different from others I’ve been on (can’t speak for ones from before I got hooked on them) in a couple ways…..First: that part about not being more than four hours away is usually a serious estimate – I’ve been to Pennsylvania, the southern tier, the finger lakes, um….you get the idea — this time we were no more than one hour from my home!!! Second: we usually make 3-4 stops, including lunch — this trip had SIX stops, including lunch!!! It was a busy day, but being a closer trip meant less drive time and more opportunities for additional things to do. It was a LOT to cram into a day, but it was a pleasant pace and kept us engaged. It was nice!

I feel the need to expand on the “no more than one hour from my house”…..it might imply that we went to places I’m totally familiar with or at least have been to before! But, that would be an incorrect assumption! Out of the six mini adventures throughout the day, there was only one — the last one — that I actually knew about or have been to! I won’t spoil the ending to this post by saying WHAT that place was, but I will say that even though I’ve been there before, it was a limited experience and the tour was an extensive look at the organization and I learned a lot!

There were several people on the bus that I have traveled with before…..it’s so comforting to know that I can usually count on seeing many of my new travel buddies on these trips and reminiscing about previous trips we shared and how we met.

We boarded the bus about 7:30 am for an 8:00 departure time. The amazing Kathy Hamm was our tour manager….she always makes every trip, regardless of how long or short it is, so very special and seem absolutely seemless.

Our driver was Marty…..he has driven us on Mystery Tours before, so was familiar to many of us and such a sweetheart. The bus was just slightly less than full…only a couple empty seats (including the one next to me….pros and cons with that……more room to spread out, but no opportunity to get to know a seat-mate!!!).

The weather forecast leading up to the days before the 15th looked like it would be sunny, but cold — high in the high 40s / low 50s…..then, that day, it looked like it might be slightly warmer (mid-50s), but cloudy! By mid-morning, this was our sky and it turned out to be a lovely day!!! Chilly, yes…..but quite nice!

We headed east on the Thruway and soon arrived at our first stop. It was a very nice change to stopping at a thruway rest area or mega convenience store for our morning coffee/bio break — while they are always nice and meant to just give us a break on the way to our first “adventure” stop, this was different and, like I said, a nice change!

ADVENTURE # 1:

Six Sprouts Farm Market – Avon, NY

As we were driving through the Avon country side, I discovered that there is a Barilla pasta plant in Avon….I typically choose Barilla as my first choice brand for pasta….unless the store is out of the particular type of pasta in the Barilla, which results in me picking an alternative…..so, I was happy to see it is actually a local product!

ADVENTURE # 2:

Barn Quilt Trail – LeRoy, NY

After our morning coffee break at Six Sprouts, we drove to LeRoy and picked up the municipal historian – Lynn – who got on board with us to guide a tour of the Barn Quilt Trail of LeRoy. There are over 100 hand-painted barn quilts along four trails in and around LeRoy…..I’ll include their website at the end of this post to visit for more information.

Lynn directed Marty around the area. She pointed out many of the area barn quilts (some were on roads she couldn’t take the bus down) and told us tons of great information about LeRoy history and general facts, barn quilts, and other interesting tidbits. I didn’t know that LeRoy had a Barn Quilt Trail or a lot of the historical info she shared with us.

She took us to the Donald Woodward Airport – the home of four barn quilts and told us about the history of the airport – including the fact that it used to house a fleet of airplanes, including one of Amelia Earhart’s planes – located there for about a year. The airport is now owned by the Village of LeRoy. It was difficult to get photos of many of the barn quilts we saw – some on the sides of buildings or behind trees – we could see them, but photos weren’t always possible. But — here are some of the ones I was able to capture:

The one on the left commemorates the Lehigh Valley Railroad that used to be a big deal in LeRoy and the one on the right is called “Carpenter’s Square” and is made from wood strips rather than just a painted design pattern.

Some other interesting things I photographed during our drive around Leroy:

The window glare makes this hard to see, but it is a huge tree in the front yard of someone’s home that is HOLLOW!!! In the photo on the right, you can see the hole on the left side of the tree that you can actually walk into to stand inside the tree!!! Very cool!!! As we were stopped in front of the house so Lynn could explain it to us, the person who lives there was standing in her driveway watching us – probably wondering what a tour bus found so interesting about her home! hahaha

Lynn also took us by an old steam shovel that is an artifact of the railroad – she told us all about it’s history. I was on the wrong side of the bus to get a photo during our tour, but as luck would have it, I happened past it before and took a photo without knowing anything about it other than what the info plaque said:

Oooppssie……early on the tour, Lynn accidentally spoiled the lunch surprise….she was talking to Marty about maneuvering through the trail so that the bus would end up on the way to Caledonia for lunch…..she was on the microphone at the time!!! The entire bus erupted with “oh, we’re going to Caledonia for lunch” and she realized she gave away the next secret!!! hahaha!!! After that, she referred to the next stop as “the town that will not be named”…..but, it was too late…..the cat was out of the bag! Oh well….it was a minor goof and didn’t expose any other secrets!

Lynn also summarized the entire day very nicely by saying, “The day isn’t worth it unless you learn something” — we learned a lot at most of the stops!

ADVENTURE # 3:

Lunch at Caledonia Village Inn – Caledonia, NY

Lunch was at the Caledonia Village Inn….a lovely restaurant that put out a wonderful buffet for us. We were served coffee/tea, etc. and warm fresh bread at the table and then we went through the buffet – salad, carrots roasted with ginger (and something?), broccoli & peas medley, potato casserole, mushroom ravioli, salmon, and chicken with cheese cake for dessert – all very good!

I got to sit with three friends I met on our South Dakota trip last September (they were ones I ate most of my meals with on that trip) — we were able to catch up over lunch — none of us happened to be on any other trips together until this one! What a wonderful treat!!!

ADVENTURE # 4:

Northwoods Alpaca Farm – Bergen, NY

After lunch, we drove for a little bit out into the country-side. As we were driving along, I saw a sign for an Alpaca Farm and I thought – “oh that would be a great place to stop at”, but we kept driving!!! boo hoo!!! Then, Marty turned around and went back…..apparently, he came up on the sign too late to turn in, so had to find a place to safely turn back…..imagine my excitement when we pulled in to Northwoods Alpaca Farm!!! Give me time with friendly critters and I’m a happy camper…..the highlight of my day!!!

The owners told us a little about their farm and raising alpacas and they gave us bags of food to feed the gorgeous creatures!!! I was so happy feeding them and watching them. Of course, there was also a really sweet gift shop with all kinds of products made from alpaca wool. Several people bought socks and other cool stuff…..I got a pretty stuffed alpaca to put with my other stuffed animals that I’ve picked up at special places or were given to me by special people over the years! ❤

I could have gone home happy as a clam after that stop…..but……

ADVENTURE # 5:

Pully’s Farm Market – LeRoy, NY

Our next stop had even MORE critters……and cool shopping! Pully’s Farm Market had fresh farm produce and other goodies…..and a pen full of the cutest goats!!! After a quick wander through the market, I went outside for photos and to visit with the goats!!!

I made friends with this cutie — he hopped up onto the fence to get nice and close, so I rubbed his face and gave him a good scratch behind his ears…..he seemed to enjoy it!!! 🙂

Then his friend came to get some of the same treatment…..I happily obliged!!!

ADVENTURE # 6:

GoArt, Batavia, NY

Our final stop was one I was familiar with….sort of…..I went to GoArt in Batavia when my talented nephew, Bryan, was showing some of his art they were featuring. But, I never went beyond the rooms his art was in and I didn’t really know that much about it. So, this was a nice way to expand my experience there! We got a little tour, a talk about the organization and the ghosts that are suspected to roam the halls of the building, and they served us some delicious pastry and beverages. It was a very nice end to the day!

Here’s some photos I took around the gallery:

We were told that when they brought in this old player piano, they discovered it had a spirit attached to it! Apparently, they have mediums investigating the spirits frequently and offer late night haunted history tours!!! That might be cool!!!

What is left of the wonderful pastries we were served!!! ❤

As I walked through the gallery, I was disappointed that I didn’t see any of my nephews work…..but, then, I was talking to a friend and she pointed to a piece on the wall saying how much she liked it…..I looked and instantly knew it was Bryan’s work…..I’d seen photos of the piece, but that was the first time I saw it up close and personal!!! Of course, I then told everyone close to me that it was created by my handsome and talented nephew!!! Proud Auntie moment, for sure!!! This is it – artist: Bryan Wright – medium: metal work!!!

I didn’t notice the exact time, but we got back to our cars about 6:00-ish. It was a long, full, wonderful day!!! Highlights for me — all the amazing critters and sharing lunch with friends from our South Dakota trip (and bragging on my nephew at GoArt!)!!! I got home totally exhausted — the day wore me out — but, I had a fabulous time and can’t wait for the next one in December!!! Thank you, Kathy and Marty for a fantastic day and thank you to the girls at First Choice Travel for putting together yet another great Mystery Tour — I don’t know how you do it, but I’m glad you do!!!

And, I’ll close with a couple links for you to get more information:

The link to the LeRoy Barn Quilt website: http://www.LeRoyBarnQuilt.org

The link to GoArt’s website: https://goart.org/