Traveling Tracy

Welcome to Downsville NY Traveling Tracy

Tracy is from Texas where she is in 3rd grade with her friend Elena.  Elena's dad and Mr. Bull were in the Army together over 20 years ago so when Tracy decided that she wanted to go learn about other areas of the country Elena knew that it would be fun for Tracy to come and enjoy a few weeks in New York with the Bull children Elaina, Dorothy and Raymon.  And guess what she found out, Raymon Bull is also a 3rd grader too so hopefully he will be able to share the fun with his class as well.

The Bull family lives a few miles outside of the town of Downsville on old farm land.  We do not have a farm with a big barn or even cows but we do have 2 goats, a bunch of chickens, some ducks, a dog, a cat, a turtle, sometimes we have pigs and we even have a rabbit so there was plenty to keep Tracy busy on her visit.

Tracy visiting with "Little Guy" the rooster.  He really is not so "little" though.

Winter time in Downsville is usually quiet and calm, school kids are just hoping for snow days (which we had while Tracy visited) and parents are just trying to keep the house warm.  But the end of winter is a different story all together and Tracy visited at that special time of year, or as it's better know as "Maple Season".  Maple Season is the time of year when winter days start warming up above freezing temperatures but it is still very cold at night. Most of the snow has melted but not all of it so the ground will start melting slowly allowing the sleeping Maple Trees to wake up and start the process of making new leaves.  The tree brings moisture in from its roots and Sap (a sweet watery liquid) flows through the trees.  Maple Syrup producers (like the Bull family) drill holes into the trees to collect the sap, don't worry it does not hurt the trees but it does allow them to insert a pipe know as a spiel into the tree to collect the Sap.

Tracy Helping "Tap" a maple tree and show how a spile works.

Buckets are then attached under the spiels on the trees and the sap then drips one drop of sap at a time until the buckets are full.  It usually takes one full day to fill a 2gallon bucket with sap if it is dripping fast enough.  Each day the buckets are emptied and then put back to collect again.  When Maple Producers have collected enough sap they will cook it for a long time until it becomes much thicker.  Once it reaches a certain thickness it become Maple Syrup, yes the same maple syrup that is put on pancakes.

Tracy showing you a "Sap Bush".  Multiple Maple trees all in the same area that produce sap is knows as a Sap Bush. Look how many buckets Tracy helped empty each day.  Wow!  That's a lot of hard work

Want to know how hard Tracy worked to make her syrup to bring back home?  Well, it takes 40 gallons of sap from a maple tree to cook enough to make one gallon of Maple Syrup.  That's a lot of trees and a lot of sap to collect but the reward is so sweet!  Hope she shares it with everyone else in Texas.

Tracy with a quart jug of Pure Maple Syrup

It wasn't all hard work for Tracy.  Even though it was winter we still showed her around town and the local tourist attractions.

Summer time view from the Mountains looking out at Downsville.  The large water supply is the Peapacton Reservior 

When most people hear of New York they think of the New York City with all its hustle and bustle of a big city, large building and even the Statue of Liberty but just a few hours north of the city is the peaceful little 200 year old town of Downsville.  Located in the Catskill Mountains, Downsville was named after Able Downs who settled in the area and had a leather tannery in the 1770's. One of Able's Children George Downs was also a huge help in the building of the town.  He built many building and businesses that helped form what is now the town of Downsville.  George was laid to rest at Downs Point (known to locals as Down's Grave) a hill top view overlooking the little town he had helped create.  This has been a popular hiking area by locals and visitors as well as there is a splendid view overlooking the town.

Down's Grave early photo showing the rolling hills of the Catskill Mountains - credit Town of Colchester Historian.

There is just one school in Downsville for elementary, middle school and high school students.  All 3 of the Bull children attend the same school, home of the Eagles.  Go Eagles!  Since we live in such a rural area most of the students have to ride the bus to school and some of them are on the bus for almost an hour just getting to school.

Downsville Central School.  Go Eagles!

One of our tourist attractions our beloved covered bridge.  Downsville has lots of brooks and streams that flow into the East Branch of the Delaware River.  One of our local treasures is an amazing covered bridge that spans the river.  We have even dedicated a little sitting/park area for everyone to go and enjoy not only the bridge but the river and wild life that call it home.

Traveling Tracy visiting the Downsville Covered Bridge on the East Branch of the Delaware River.

Another one of our amazing waterways is the Pepacton Reservoir that sits just at the beginning of town.  The reservoir was built to help supply water for New York City.  New York City purchased the large valley area at the beginning of the Delaware River in 1942.  Work began a short time later and the dam was completed in 1954.  The Filling of the reservoir was completed in 1955.  The large dam in the photo has a spillway on the other end that releases water back into the East Branch of the Delaware River.
While it is not an idea place in February for visiting as its usually frozen over the reservoir is a big attraction for your town once it warms up as many tourists come to the area for the great fishing it provides.  And the view of the mountains surrounding the reservoir are just breathtaking in the summer and fall.  If the fishing and view do not draw your attention to the reservoir it is also supplies visitors with some great wild life interaction.  White tailed deer, beavers, raccoons, porcupines, coyotes, black bear, bob cats, lynx, ducks, geese and many more animals right down to the chipmunk call the reservoir home.  With all the small rodent types of pray and the great supply of fish it is also a great feeding grounds for the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagles which is a common daily sight.  Go Eagles!!!

We didn't have much snow here for Tracy to play in when she first got to New York which is rare for February.  Usually all the snow is just starting to melt but with all the warm weather we had in February the ground was getting pretty bare and thawing quickly so it was looking like Tracy might not get to experience a snow ball or the fun of a Snow Day from school with the kids.  I guess Mother Nature wasn't going to let that happen because we got a blizzard and over 20 inches of snow!  Tracy can now say she survived a blizzard but she was not much help with the snow shovel haha.

We had a great time showing Tracy around our little town.  Hope Tracy enjoyed her visit and learned a lot about Downsville and New York.