Fall Color, Stony Brook, and...Jello?

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
05 Oct 2008	N21481	5G0 (Le Roy, NY) - DSV (Dansville, NY) - N38 (Wellsboro, PA) - GVQ (Batavia, NY) - 5G0	2.4	661.3

October 5 was a day to savor great flying weather, fall colors, and the freedom afforded by owning a light aircraft.  The day's flying began with a stop in Dansville, NY for lunch.

While waiting at the hold line to depart runway 32 at Dansville, I watched this Piper Pawnee tow a glider aloft, breaking ground from the grass runway running parallel to the pavement.  Glider activity, something I do not see often, always makes Dansville an enjoyable place to visit.

 
Several days previous, Kristy, The Bear, and I went hiking with several of our friends in Stony Brook State Park.  The park, located just south of Dansville, is a steep, narrow river gorge featuring several reasonably impressive waterfalls.  From the air, the narrow gorge is difficult to find, especially compared to the the massive gorge in Letchworth State Park just to the west.

This is probably the largest waterfall we saw on our hike up the river bed.  Stone steps carved directly into the gorge wall allow access to the top of the falls and are visible curving along the right wall of the canyon.

 
I turned south toward northern Pennsylvania and Wellsboro-Johnston Airport for fuel.  This photo was taken on approach to the airport.

Fully loaded with inexpensive Pennsylvanian fuel, I stopped for some touch and go landings at the Genesee County Airport in Batavia, then turned back home to Le Roy.  This is downtown Le Roy, a picturesque little town with a river running through it.  Le Roy is famous for exactly two things.  Most notably, it is the birthplace of Jell-O.  Had to be invented somewhere, right? 

Secondly, Henry Ford received a speeding ticket in August of 1922 while traveling to Detroit on Route 5 (Main Street).  Evidently, Ford was so angry about the speeding ticket that he posted signs outside the village limits warning tourists that the town operated a speed trap.