Day 28: Quality Time! Cooperstown to Honeoye Falls 177 miles

It was an idyllic day with a scary moment. The day ended with a wonderful dinner and game night at the Bride and Groom Ryan Kincaid (RK) and Ryan Heller (RH)'s new home it Honeoye Falls. It was wonderful seeing their new home and spending quality time together. We talked about their wedding coming up on Sunday, plans for family and friends coming into town, and a group outing in Ithaca on Saturday.

RK was the AmeriCorps member for Umpqua Watersheds for 2020-21 and our Education Director serving remotely in 2022-23 before getting a great job with Finger Lakes 4-H. She is very special to us and it was great getting to know her fiancé, RH' as well as their sweet dog, Jasper. It was a perfect night.

On the trip from Cooperstown to Honeoye Falls we experienced a near miss accident. We were going out of Fly Creek headed west going at 45 mph when we saw a dump truck heading east swerve to miss a car that was entering the highway without stopping. He hit the front of that car and pieces flew in the air. The driver saw us and swerved and I was afraid he was going to roll the dump truck into our path. We were about 30 yards in front of them and were able to stop Lexy and the Gray Toad quickly and pull off of the road. The tires on dumptruck were smoking and the air reaked of burnt rubber.

After the truck stopped we proceeded beyond the wreck and pulled off the highway. I jumped out and ran back to the car where two other people where already helping a young woman, the only occupant of the car. Janice stayed back near our vehicle to hold back traffic. Air bags in the woman's car deployed and she was holding her wrist and sobbing and kept saying "my baby" which scared me until I realized she was talking about her car. Someone called 911 and asked for her drivers license and she said she didn't have one. The guy from the dump truck came with a fire extinguisher but fortunately nothing was burning.

I went back and helped direct traffic heading east with Janice. We coordinated with another driver on the other side of the wreck who was directing traffic headed west. Fortunately it was in a rural area where traffic wasn't heavy although we had to get a little animated with some drivers who weren't slowing down enough. We were there about 15 minutes before police, ambulance and firetruck showed up. We helped another 15 minutes until the police thanked us for our help and sent us on our way.

We've traveled thousands of miles in the motorhome and this was the closest we have been to being involved in an accident. I am am glad the motorhome and car performed perfectly in a rapid deacceleration and that we handled it well.

Before leaving the Fly Creek Cider Mill we had a wonderful breakfast, did some shopping and took the Boys for a nice walk in the field. It was an idyllic setting and we enjoyed our stay there.

We pulled the motorhome into the parking lot and drove the Honda 3 miles into Cooperstown for one last stroll through the Village. We stopped at the Doubleday Souvenir Shop near Doubleday Field. Abner Doubleday is recognized as the father of baseball and started the game as we know it in Cooperstown. We talked with Pam, the shop attendant, a fellow senior and lifelong resident of the area. She told us that Cooperstown is haunted and that she and others had an encounter with Shoeless Joe Jackson. This gave Janice the willies as she felt someone tap on her shoulder when we were touring the museum yesterday and there was no one there! We bought some souvenirs and left the shop excited to have another story about Cooperstown.

Before leaving I took a few swings and misses in the batting cage while Janice coached and laughed at me on the otherside of the net. "Follow through!" "You're swinging too late!" I did get a few hits and believe a couple balls would still be in the air if it weren't for the netting. It was great fun being a Boy again.