The Cabin

Comfort and safety

The things we think are most important at the Naples Cabin are:

1. Your safety. You are a long way from the nearest hospital since the cabin is not on a road. If there is an emergency, call 911. You are at 7368 Rhine Street, Naples. There is a first aid kit above the sink in the locked box.
2. Fire prevention. If you have an outdoor fire, fill bucket of water beforehand to put it out. For the indoor wood stove, be sure your fire is mostly out before departing.
3. Critter abatement. Mice, bugs, raccoons, and platipi would love to get inside the cabin and snack on food. They leave a mess.  Prepare and eat food outside, and make sure doors and windows without screens are securely shut at night and when you leave. 

Things guests have noted recently:

• We have had a single bear sighting reported in mid July 2020. Please avoid leaving any food outside during the night.
• There are some insects that like to chew on the wood of the ceiling. It is unlikely they will finish the roof material and move on to dining on your flesh.
• In very hard rains there can be water that comes through the roof. Just move your beddings and personal items are out of the way if that happens.

Orientation

Feel free to use anything you see in the cabin. The books, games, sporting equipment, etc. are yours to use. An exception is the slide, which is the  hulking metal thing you see on the ceiling. The cabin was originally built as a kid’s playhouse. We leave the slide in the up position now to avoid death and dismemberment of our guests.

Sink

There is a sink that gets fed from a tank that gets water from the roof.  Don’t drink this water. Use it for washing. You will have 20-40  gallons of rainwater for your stay in the small barrel that feeds the cabin. If it rains during your stay, a bright side is that your barrel gets filled. We will bring more of you run out.

There is not much water pressure at the sink inside the cabin, The one in the outdoor kitchen has good pressure. 

Drinking Water

Drink the water from the stainless steel tank inside the cabin. That comes from the Naples municipal water supply. If it is empty, we will bring more.

Dishes

You will find dishes in a basket in the cabin on the red cabinet. Utensils are in the outdoor kitchen, Upon checkout, you can rinse them in the outdoor sink and leave them in the sink.  Do not put dirty dishes back in the basket. 

The metal bin in the outside kitchen area can be used for clean empty cans and bottles. You can leave those if you wish and we can recycle them.

We will bring garbage and recyclables down when we pick up your luggage at the end of your trip. If you want to empty either mid-visit, you can walk them down. The large green container by the house is for garbage and the two small green containers are for recyclables. Recyclables  are mixed. 

If you have a dog, you can use the small shovel by the porch steps to pick up after it and toss it into the tall grass. (Avoid walking around in the tall grass, especially with nice shoes.) 

Feel free to build a fire in the wood stove. In case it’s been a while, here is a suggested process:

1) Gather kindling. Dry pine twigs are the best.

2) Crumble some paper. 

3) Put the kindling on top of the paper.

4) Remove the plate under the stove door.

5) Light the paper. There are matches in the white medicine cabinet.

6) Close the door.

You will begin to hear a woosh of air enter the stove and the fire will grow. After that you can add sticks the size of your thumb, then your wrist, then eventually cordwood. Keep in mind that you do not want to leave the cabin with a fire in the stove, so keep those larger logs off the fire unless you are there for the night.

We left you some cordwood by the tree outside the cabin. You may find some pine boards there as well. The pine is only for starting fires. Once it is started use the hardwood. Feel free to forage for more wood and kindling.

You can use the damper (the little triangle-shaped knob at about eye-level on the chimney pipe, will increase or decrease the amount of air leaving the chimney) to slow the burn. 

When you depart, make sure it is out or down to embers.

Here is the lowdown on the various windows, in case you want to open them.

Upstairs windows can be open and latched to the rafters.It gets hot up there when the sun hits the roof, but it cools down quickly with both windows open.

The downstairs windows near the sink are also a door to the porch. Here are the steps to open it:

1. Remove the triangular block of wood to the left

2. Unlock the sashes from one another

3. Open the top sash slowly, all them way

4. Slowly swing the bottom sash open in the other direction

Leave the downstairs window by the door closed. The upper sash has no counterweight so if you were to unlock it, it may come crashing down.

There are two vertical vents on either side of the two large windows behind the ladder. You can pull those open with the handle. These windows and those upstairs are the only windows with screens. 

When you arrive, curtains may be down to keep the cabin cool. They can all be raised.

• The ones facing the lake can be folded and thrown above the window.
• The ones behind the ladder can be rolled up and hung at the top on two screws.
• For the big wide windows you can pull the rope and hook it on a screw eye below the shelf.

For light in the evening, you can use the electric string lights. If you want to read, you can use the USB plug-in light. There is also a flashlight.

The electric panel is by the door. To power it up, first you turn on the large switch in the lower box to the up position. You will see a blue glow after you do this. Then you can begin randomly trying the switches to see what they turn on.

The system looks a little intimidating but that’s just for effect. It’s safe and your kids are welcome to try the switches. 

You can make a bed wherever you wish. There are 4 foam mattresses upstairs. When it’s hot, guests tend to move the mattresses downstairs.

At the end of your stay you can put all the used beddings downstairs. Wet towels can be hung outside or draped over the edge of the hamper our outside by the shower.

There is a map by the circular mirror by the door. “NC” marks where you are. 

The property extends west to the West Hill Preserve, which connects to the Finger Lakes Trail. This is a wild area, so do not expect much in terms of groomed trails. You also need to do some bushwhacking to get there.

To walk to the preserve, you can walk a bit down the road you used to get to the cabin. You will see a blue dot on the tree to your left. Make a left there and follow the blue dots to the border of the preserve. You will see orange signs marketing the property boundary.

Another option is to take the trail you may see if you walk out the cabin door and continue forward into the field. Continue past the outhouse and you will see a blue dot trail on your right at the end of the straight part. Make a right down the slope, then you will see the blue dots on trees marking the trail. Make a left and follow the blue dots.