Friday, October 19, 2012
The Last Leg of Our Journey
We were in bed shortly after 10pm last night. The weather radio had us/me expecting rain and high/damaging winds during the night. I brought the grass-like mat that we use to wipe our feet into the trailer when I made my last entry just so that the wind wouldn’t blow it away. I had a hard time getting to sleep. Once I heard the rain at about 10:40pm I rolled over and went to sleep.
This morning Tom was off to the wash house soon after 6am and I was making and storing things in the sleeping bags just minutes after that. As we were eating breakfast the rains came again. We waited for a long while before the rains slowed down. I went up to the wash house and when I came back they had almost stopped. We went into high gear to get everything stowed and/or hitched. By 9:18am we had made our last trip to the wash house and were on our way to the dumpster and recycling area and then out of there.
The sun was trying to burn off the fog as we left. It was making a valiant effort and it was succeeding. We were actually able to see shadows.
The highway took us up the Allegheny Range at Blossburg to an elevation of 2157 feet. The fog that was still around made it look as if we were in the clouds.
After about 100 miles of driving for the day and nearing lunch time we stopped for lunch and a “quick cat nap” for Tom and then we headed on down the highway again. The sun was out, and the colors were wonderful. As we neared White Haven the road seemed to be a little wet and it got wetter - wet enough to call it rain. And it did rain. We were hoping that we would drive out of the rain-making clouds as we drove south. We did.
We passed the 200 mile mark for the day and still had a little bit to go yet. And we were still in the sunshine.
We arrived home at 2:20pm to 2 green trees in our back yard. We didn’t miss the color on these trees yet. The house was cool but we didn’t turn the heat on yet. We’re hoping that someone miss-read the card that Tom filled out to have our mail held. They usually deliver it the day we come home, but it was not here. Maybe it will be delivered tomorrow.
Our entire trip was 3290 miles into Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. Thanks for going along with us. It was fun.
Friday, October 19, 2012
What A Wonderful Day!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Note: Please forgive my mistake in naming yesterday’s blog. It should have been Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Doris’s birthday is on October 17 but I just had the wrong day assigned to it.
Also this is the blog for October 18 that I would have sent if I had internet service. Since I don’t I’ll send it on Friday, October 19 with that day’s blog.
What A Wonderful Day!
We were not in a hurry, but we were on the road by 9:10am. Well, not in a hurry if you were okay with your water tasting and smelling like rust. There’s even a sign hanging over the washers in the laundry room that your while cottons make become colored. There’s another sign in each of the toilet stalls announcing that the toilets are cleaned regularly. The stains in the toilets are because of the water. Yesterday the toilet in the trailer had rusty looking water in it. Get me out of here!
We were going to follow Rt. 6 east across the northern tier of the Pennsylvania counties: McKean, Potter and Tioga. It is a most colorful ride no matter when you take it.
Mt. Jewette is the home of the Kinzua Walkway. It has a graphic of the Walkway on the “Welcome to Mt. Jewette sign.
When I made the notes for this blog I wrote “M.J. has a mural on the side of a 2 story building in town.” I had wished that I was fast enough to get a picture of it. But reading some of the brochures that I picked up later in the day I learned that it is really a pictorial history of Mt. Jewette. How cool! And the colors were so vibrant.
Another thing about Mt. Jewette is that there is a 25 mph speed limit in town that everyone obeyed. I wonder if the town is a speed trap.
Another town that we rode through was Smethport. They, too, had signs. One of theirs was “Smethport - Home of the Wooly Willy.” Wooly bear caterpillars? Again in another of the brochures that I picked up I learned that “Wooly Willy” is that toy that so many kids had. It’s a board with graphic filings inside a plastic bubble-like thing in the shape of a man’s head. You used a small magnet in the shape of a rod to move the filings around and drop them on the man’s head for hair or on his face for a beard. I never had one but maybe you did.
Then there was the town of “Eulalia.” Tom said that it means “good speech.” [This is based on my memory of Greek. Tom] But I am now believing that I read or heard somewhere that it is an Indian word. There is even a St. Eulalia Roman Catholic Church in town.
In Coudersport there was a most amazing thing. The owner of this house has such an imagination. He had a dead tree in front of his house. It was a huge tree. It was about 12” to 14” in diameter and taller than two stories high. The limbs were removed almost right up to the trunk and all of the bark was missing. It was just like a smooth, bumpy pole. The tree was shortened to two stories with a flat top. At the top of the pole was a replica of a nest. Standing on the side of the nest as if it were just alighting on the nest was a large carving of an eagle with its wings spread. What a neat sight.
At Denton Peak we were at the peak of the Allegheny Mountains at an elevation of 2424 feet.
Finally we arrived at Hills Creek State Park. We did the minimum of setting up camp and getting lunch and then headed out to the Pine Creek Gorge. As we left camp we saw one deciduous tree in the brightest orange “dress” in the middle of a group of very dark pine colored evergreens. What an eye-full!
We had to go through Wellsboro. This is a quaint little town. Some years ago it installed gas lights in the middle of the islands of grass on Main Street. Now that it is autumn there are corn stalks leaning against the gas lights with many pumpkins sitting around the base of each light standard.
At Leonard Harrison State Park, 1833 feet in elevation, it was sunny and breezy but no hats, gloves or hooded sweatshirts were needed. The mountains on either side of the gorge contained a mix of bare trees and vibrant colors. There were several large birds flying around in the gorge. Don’t know what they were. A man there said that there was a bald eagle in the trees below us and he was waiting with his camera for the eagle to take flight. But the eagle wasn’t going anywhere. So we left to get gas for our trip home tomorrow and to get set up in the trailer. At 3pm it was 64 degrees.
The trailer was full of “if…then…” statements. You know the kind of thing “if this happens…then we will do this.” As the afternoon and evening moved on a lot of those things were resolved. So now we are ready to spend the night and get up and move again tomorrow. This will be our last move until next year.
The one thing that we are anticipating is that there is supposed to be some wind with high wind gusts and some hard rain. The anticipation is not a happy one. Although we have a hard roof over our head I still remember leaky tents of years gone by. I’ll let you know what happens.
Note: Please forgive my mistake in naming yesterday’s blog. It should have been Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Doris’s birthday is on October 17 but I just had the wrong day assigned to it.
Also this is the blog for October 18 that I would have sent if I had internet service. Since I don’t I’ll send it on Friday, October 19 with that day’s blog.
What A Wonderful Day!
We were not in a hurry, but we were on the road by 9:10am. Well, not in a hurry if you were okay with your water tasting and smelling like rust. There’s even a sign hanging over the washers in the laundry room that your while cottons make become colored. There’s another sign in each of the toilet stalls announcing that the toilets are cleaned regularly. The stains in the toilets are because of the water. Yesterday the toilet in the trailer had rusty looking water in it. Get me out of here!
We were going to follow Rt. 6 east across the northern tier of the Pennsylvania counties: McKean, Potter and Tioga. It is a most colorful ride no matter when you take it.
Mt. Jewette is the home of the Kinzua Walkway. It has a graphic of the Walkway on the “Welcome to Mt. Jewette sign.
When I made the notes for this blog I wrote “M.J. has a mural on the side of a 2 story building in town.” I had wished that I was fast enough to get a picture of it. But reading some of the brochures that I picked up later in the day I learned that it is really a pictorial history of Mt. Jewette. How cool! And the colors were so vibrant.
Another thing about Mt. Jewette is that there is a 25 mph speed limit in town that everyone obeyed. I wonder if the town is a speed trap.
Another town that we rode through was Smethport. They, too, had signs. One of theirs was “Smethport - Home of the Wooly Willy.” Wooly bear caterpillars? Again in another of the brochures that I picked up I learned that “Wooly Willy” is that toy that so many kids had. It’s a board with graphic filings inside a plastic bubble-like thing in the shape of a man’s head. You used a small magnet in the shape of a rod to move the filings around and drop them on the man’s head for hair or on his face for a beard. I never had one but maybe you did.
Then there was the town of “Eulalia.” Tom said that it means “good speech.” [This is based on my memory of Greek. Tom] But I am now believing that I read or heard somewhere that it is an Indian word. There is even a St. Eulalia Roman Catholic Church in town.
In Coudersport there was a most amazing thing. The owner of this house has such an imagination. He had a dead tree in front of his house. It was a huge tree. It was about 12” to 14” in diameter and taller than two stories high. The limbs were removed almost right up to the trunk and all of the bark was missing. It was just like a smooth, bumpy pole. The tree was shortened to two stories with a flat top. At the top of the pole was a replica of a nest. Standing on the side of the nest as if it were just alighting on the nest was a large carving of an eagle with its wings spread. What a neat sight.
At Denton Peak we were at the peak of the Allegheny Mountains at an elevation of 2424 feet.
Finally we arrived at Hills Creek State Park. We did the minimum of setting up camp and getting lunch and then headed out to the Pine Creek Gorge. As we left camp we saw one deciduous tree in the brightest orange “dress” in the middle of a group of very dark pine colored evergreens. What an eye-full!
We had to go through Wellsboro. This is a quaint little town. Some years ago it installed gas lights in the middle of the islands of grass on Main Street. Now that it is autumn there are corn stalks leaning against the gas lights with many pumpkins sitting around the base of each light standard.
At Leonard Harrison State Park, 1833 feet in elevation, it was sunny and breezy but no hats, gloves or hooded sweatshirts were needed. The mountains on either side of the gorge contained a mix of bare trees and vibrant colors. There were several large birds flying around in the gorge. Don’t know what they were. A man there said that there was a bald eagle in the trees below us and he was waiting with his camera for the eagle to take flight. But the eagle wasn’t going anywhere. So we left to get gas for our trip home tomorrow and to get set up in the trailer. At 3pm it was 64 degrees.
The trailer was full of “if…then…” statements. You know the kind of thing “if this happens…then we will do this.” As the afternoon and evening moved on a lot of those things were resolved. So now we are ready to spend the night and get up and move again tomorrow. This will be our last move until next year.
The one thing that we are anticipating is that there is supposed to be some wind with high wind gusts and some hard rain. The anticipation is not a happy one. Although we have a hard roof over our head I still remember leaky tents of years gone by. I’ll let you know what happens.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Happy Birthday, Doris!
Both of us awoke this morning with the same thought: “It’s too cold to get out of bed!” But Tom got out of bed long enough to look at the thermometer, turn on the heater and jump back into bed. The thought of shaving in a building with no heat and an outside temperature of 33 degrees was just too much. The inside temperature was 42 degrees.
And we each discovered that the best way to sleep in cold weather is with our heads inside the sleeping bag with a small hole just above our head to let in the oxygen.
About 50 minutes later we got up. Tom shaved and dressed while I tried to stay out of his way in this small living space. Then he did the same for me. It was easy for him when he had his coffee made and could just sit and drink his coffee while I made the bed and got dressed. We have worked things out as to the best way to live in this small space.
We both worked on breakfast, ate and cleaned up. The weather radio told us that the temperature was going up to about 60 degrees today, so we decided to just hang out this morning and go to the Kinzua Viaduct and the Kinzua Dam in the afternoon.
It was a short and easy trip to the viaduct. We had been here years ago when all we could do was to walk through a pathway to the end of the bridge and peer through the chain link fence to look down at the ground below. This railroad bridge was still in service until 2003 when the men were making repairs to the bridge. I expect that the men had enough warning to get down from the bridge and get to a safe place before a tornado came ripping through the valley and took the bridge down in 30 seconds.
I think sometime around 2009 or 2010 work was started to make this place an historical site. Work was done to build a walkway on the same supports that were originally used for the bridge but with them being reinforced. People walk on planks on the railroad ties out to a platform and look at the valley of disaster left behind by the tornado. The bridge supports are strewn on the valley floor, and dead trees tell of what happened here. One can not only look over the railings around the platform and along the walkway but look through the six approximately 30” square reinforced glass panels that are laid in the floor of the platform to see the wreckage below. This new Kinzua Viaduct State Park was opened in 2011.
Two asides: 1) All along the railings around the side of the walkway and the platform are iron rod railings. On top of these railings are 2x10 wood planks fastened to the railing at about a 50 or 55 degree angle. It had been coated with something that made it look gray. But all along the wood there were bare spots where the coating had been sanded off. If you looked closer you could see that at some spots someone had carved things into the wood or written them on the wood that were just too deep to be sanded out and repaired.
Aside 2) whether true or not, there was this statement that I overheard while on the walkway: the angle of the top wooden railing was used because kids were walking on top of the flat railing. I said it was a death wish and Tom said it was the kids’ sense of invincibility.
Other things that we saw were old wells that were used for drilling for oil. None that we saw were working. We also saw spots of color in the trees while most places we were too late for color there.
We drove over to Kinzua Dam looking for something that matched the picture that Tom had in his head. He couldn’t find it. We were glad for the drive but sorry that Tom didn’t find what he was looking for.
It was such a fantastically beautiful day. At 4pm it was 65 degrees by the thermometer in the van. It was just so nice.
We rode back to the campground looking for a gas station so that the van would have a full tank to start out tomorrow morning. Not finding any we had to go a half mile further to get it and then drive back to camp.
When we got back to camp Tom dug out the lounge chairs and we took advantage of the core-warming day.
Dinner made, cleaned up and dishes done (last time necessary for this trip) we settled in for a night of relaxation and computer work.
Tomorrow we travel to Hills Creek State Park. That means that there is no internet service. (We have one more trip to the laundry room to send this blog. I hope it’s warm in there.) So this is the blog entry until Friday night.
The weather radio says that there is rain coming. We hope we get out of here before it rains here. We were put in a “dry spot.” (If this is a dry spot I’d need hip boots for a wet one.) And in the best of all worlds we hope to get to Hills Creek and set up before the rains come; maybe even get to Leonard Harrison State Park before it rains. We’ll deal with a rainy night and a showery departure for home.
Talk to you next time on Friday, from HOME.
My! My! My! It Was COLD This Morning!
Happy Birthday, Doris!
Both of us awoke this morning with the same thought: “It’s too cold to get out of bed!” But Tom got out of bed long enough to look at the thermometer, turn on the heater and jump back into bed. The thought of shaving in a building with no heat and an outside temperature of 33 degrees was just too much. The inside temperature was 42 degrees.
And we each discovered that the best way to sleep in cold weather is with our heads inside the sleeping bag with a small hole just above our head to let in the oxygen.
About 50 minutes later we got up. Tom shaved and dressed while I tried to stay out of his way in this small living space. Then he did the same for me. It was easy for him when he had his coffee made and could just sit and drink his coffee while I made the bed and got dressed. We have worked things out as to the best way to live in this small space.
We both worked on breakfast, ate and cleaned up. The weather radio told us that the temperature was going up to about 60 degrees today, so we decided to just hang out this morning and go to the Kinzua Viaduct and the Kinzua Dam in the afternoon.
It was a short and easy trip to the viaduct. We had been here years ago when all we could do was to walk through a pathway to the end of the bridge and peer through the chain link fence to look down at the ground below. This railroad bridge was still in service until 2003 when the men were making repairs to the bridge. I expect that the men had enough warning to get down from the bridge and get to a safe place before a tornado came ripping through the valley and took the bridge down in 30 seconds.
I think sometime around 2009 or 2010 work was started to make this place an historical site. Work was done to build a walkway on the same supports that were originally used for the bridge but with them being reinforced. People walk on planks on the railroad ties out to a platform and look at the valley of disaster left behind by the tornado. The bridge supports are strewn on the valley floor, and dead trees tell of what happened here. One can not only look over the railings around the platform and along the walkway but look through the six approximately 30” square reinforced glass panels that are laid in the floor of the platform to see the wreckage below. This new Kinzua Viaduct State Park was opened in 2011.
Two asides: 1) All along the railings around the side of the walkway and the platform are iron rod railings. On top of these railings are 2x10 wood planks fastened to the railing at about a 50 or 55 degree angle. It had been coated with something that made it look gray. But all along the wood there were bare spots where the coating had been sanded off. If you looked closer you could see that at some spots someone had carved things into the wood or written them on the wood that were just too deep to be sanded out and repaired.
Aside 2) whether true or not, there was this statement that I overheard while on the walkway: the angle of the top wooden railing was used because kids were walking on top of the flat railing. I said it was a death wish and Tom said it was the kids’ sense of invincibility.
Other things that we saw were old wells that were used for drilling for oil. None that we saw were working. We also saw spots of color in the trees while most places we were too late for color there.
We drove over to Kinzua Dam looking for something that matched the picture that Tom had in his head. He couldn’t find it. We were glad for the drive but sorry that Tom didn’t find what he was looking for.
It was such a fantastically beautiful day. At 4pm it was 65 degrees by the thermometer in the van. It was just so nice.
We rode back to the campground looking for a gas station so that the van would have a full tank to start out tomorrow morning. Not finding any we had to go a half mile further to get it and then drive back to camp.
When we got back to camp Tom dug out the lounge chairs and we took advantage of the core-warming day.
Dinner made, cleaned up and dishes done (last time necessary for this trip) we settled in for a night of relaxation and computer work.
Tomorrow we travel to Hills Creek State Park. That means that there is no internet service. (We have one more trip to the laundry room to send this blog. I hope it’s warm in there.) So this is the blog entry until Friday night.
The weather radio says that there is rain coming. We hope we get out of here before it rains here. We were put in a “dry spot.” (If this is a dry spot I’d need hip boots for a wet one.) And in the best of all worlds we hope to get to Hills Creek and set up before the rains come; maybe even get to Leonard Harrison State Park before it rains. We’ll deal with a rainy night and a showery departure for home.
Talk to you next time on Friday, from HOME.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Getting Closer To Home
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Getting Closer To Home
Moving day! Tom got up and headed for the wash house. I rolled over and started making and preparing the bed for moving. This is a sight to see. Well, not really. The bed in the trailer is a double bed (we have a queen size at home) with access to it only at the foot end and on one corner; three feet up the side and about two feet across the bottom. So to make the bed I lie on my side and pull up the sleeping bag on Tom’s side until it reaches the wall at the head of the bed and then roll onto Tom’s side and pull up the sleeping bag on my side of the bed. Then I wiggle down the bed making sure that the sides of the sleeping bag are up the walls about equally on both sides. When I bought these sleeping bags I bought extra large ones so we had enough room to wear an assortment of sweat suits or other things to bed. Soon I’m at the bottom and can get out onto the floor.
With this done I can pack the bed for traveling. Huh!?!? We use the friction of the sleeping bags to keep things from moving around while the trailer is rolling down the highway. (No one is going to tell us about how bad the roads in PA are. Interstate Rt. 86 where Rt. 219 travels the same portion of roadway is a real mess. It has a sign by the edge of the road that says ROUGH ROAD and they mean it. When I opened the trailer door at the campground I found three things on the floor but none of the things that I had packed in or under the sleeping bags. And the rough road stopped right at the state line between NY and PA.) I have yet to find any of those things that I pack in/under the sleeping bags in places that I didn’t put them at the end of a traveling day.
We are back into PA at a campground that has showers smaller than the one in our trailer and internet service if you go to the laundry room. We will be here for two nights and then move to Hills Creek State Park just outside of Wellsboro, PA. Since it is a State Park we will not have any internet service there. We will be moving there on Thursday so you will not hear from us on Thursday night.
A stop at Hills Creek is almost mandatory. It is so close to the Pine Creek Gorge which is known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We learned last night that this area is past its maximum burst of leaf color, and we saw evidence of that today; lots and lots of bare trees although we did see some color in New York. There was some around the campground where the rising sun shone off the leaves colors before we left. But the gorge is a thing of beauty in any season so we view it from the Leonard Harrison State Park side and the Colton Point side. Different views, same place; both awe inspiring. It’s just a relatively short distance to Hills Creek from here, so that we are confident that we can travel there and get to see the gorge in the same day.
We had a relaxing day and even a nap this afternoon. Tomorrow we get to see Kinzua Bridge State Park and maybe the Allegheny Reservoir.
Talk to you tomorrow; we hope.
Monday, October 15, 2012
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
Monday, October 15, 2012
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
We decided last night before we went to bed that we weren’t going to get up early this morning. So we crawled into bed, early for Tom and way early for me, and settled down for a good night’s sleep. Yeah, right!
I was awakened way too early with the trailer rocking and making noise. I opened the blinds that are beside my side of the bed and saw the trailer awning being shook by a fierce wind. The weather radio had told us that there would be a front passing through the area with showers and a wind. I wasn’t expecting something like this.
I lay back down and must have dozed off because I was awakened again by the same things. I sat up, looked out of the window (the awning was still in one piece) and then lay back down again.
The next time I heard and felt the same things Tom beat me to the sitting up part. He put on his sandals and went outside. I slid my feet into my shoes and followed him. He did most of the work because he knew what to do. I was there to lend moral support. The awning was rolled up and secured and we were on our way inside. It wasn’t as noisy or shaking as much. We got back into bed and tentatively lay down listening for more noises. It was soon after 2am. We went to sleep.
I was a wake and asleep all night but soon it was near 7am and Tom was getting up. I decided that I would too. Off to the wash house to get the day started and then back to get dressed and eat breakfast. And so our day started.
One of the things that was offered to us as a possibility for our time here was to take a ride on the Erie Canal. A brochure was given to us even though we thought we had spent enough on the tours. Tom looked over the brochure several times and said that he’d like to go to Lockport, NY, anyway even if we don’t get to take the ride. Then it was that we would have to see what time the cruises were being scheduled. So we were going to Lockport just to see what things were like there. And then he looked at the brochure a little more thoroughly and found out that the last day for the cruises was yesterday, October 14, the day we were on the American Falls tour. “A day late and a dollar short,” Tom says. “But we will go anyway.”
So we had about two hours just to relax. We haven’t had much of that kind of time so we just vegged and enjoyed it. I even dozed as I sat on the sofa. We had lunch and were off to Lockport, NY to see part of the Erie Canal.
We found the Cruise Office. Two vessels were tied to the dock. They were very trusting because no one was around and everything was open. Tom and I or anyone else could have just walked on the vessel and taken off or done damage. We looked at both vessels from the dock and walked further down the property to see the area from a different point of view.
We saw a sign across the canal for Upson Park and decided to go see what that was all about. Besides it looked like you could see behind a lock or something like that. So Tom asked “The Man” to take us there and that “he” did.
We found the thing that we were looking at from across the way. It did look like a sort of a lock that might have been used to put vessels in dry dock. We don’t know for sure and there was no one there to ask.[On further investigation it is indeed a place to put vessels in dry dock!]
Another thing we found was a Canal Trail. We followed it backwards and found the Canal Museum, one of the locks of the canal, the mechanism that opens and closes the gate and the place where the water bypasses the lock. There were lots of things in the museum to see and a video presentation about how a lock works, the history of the canal and a musical presentation of life on the canal, the “Erie Canal Song.” We found many things along the Canal Trail that raised even more “what’s that” questions. As we walked away from the park Tom was heard to say, “Oh, well, a day late and a dollar short.” It would be a place to which we would want to come back.
We headed back to the campground by way of the Hobby Lobby store for more yarn and a gas station for gas for tomorrow’s trip to Lantz Corners (Kane, PA) and the Foote Rest Campground. Back at our present campground where we will be for one more night, Tom grilled ham and potatoes for dinner.
It seems that the wind has died down. I haven’t put my head out of the door to find out for sure. Think there is a possibility of showers tonight and again tomorrow morning. Gee whiz! Just in time to break camp. Low temperature for tomorrow morning is in the low 40s with a real feel of somewhere in the 30s. “Tom, where are your gloves?”
This campground is less than a mile from the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. I think that is the name of it. Earlier in our stay here I heard this loud low frequency sound that I had been taught somehow to associate with a “bomber.” (Excuse me, Steve, if I get this all backwards.) But tonight is the loudest and the longest that I have heard them. It may have something to do with the weather we are having right now; the wind and all that.) It may have something to do with “touch and goes.” Every once in a while I get to see one of these “chubby” fuselaged planes as opposed to the sleek fighter jets. But tonight is the first time this noise has been so loud for so long.
Yesterday I forgot to say something about the black squirrels that we saw in Niagara Falls, NY Park. They were beautiful. Our guide offered us this explanation: some years ago, as a project, the students at Kent State University introduced some black squirrels into the schools grounds and kept track of them to see where they would show up. A few years ago they showed up in Niagara Falls, NY. I wonder how long it will take for them to get to your area.
The evening is getting late and I have a few things to do yet, including seeing to it that this thing gets posted. We need to get some rest so that we can get out of here tomorrow. Talk to you all tomorrow night from Foote Rest Campground.
“A Day Late and A Dollar Short”
We decided last night before we went to bed that we weren’t going to get up early this morning. So we crawled into bed, early for Tom and way early for me, and settled down for a good night’s sleep. Yeah, right!
I was awakened way too early with the trailer rocking and making noise. I opened the blinds that are beside my side of the bed and saw the trailer awning being shook by a fierce wind. The weather radio had told us that there would be a front passing through the area with showers and a wind. I wasn’t expecting something like this.
I lay back down and must have dozed off because I was awakened again by the same things. I sat up, looked out of the window (the awning was still in one piece) and then lay back down again.
The next time I heard and felt the same things Tom beat me to the sitting up part. He put on his sandals and went outside. I slid my feet into my shoes and followed him. He did most of the work because he knew what to do. I was there to lend moral support. The awning was rolled up and secured and we were on our way inside. It wasn’t as noisy or shaking as much. We got back into bed and tentatively lay down listening for more noises. It was soon after 2am. We went to sleep.
I was a wake and asleep all night but soon it was near 7am and Tom was getting up. I decided that I would too. Off to the wash house to get the day started and then back to get dressed and eat breakfast. And so our day started.
One of the things that was offered to us as a possibility for our time here was to take a ride on the Erie Canal. A brochure was given to us even though we thought we had spent enough on the tours. Tom looked over the brochure several times and said that he’d like to go to Lockport, NY, anyway even if we don’t get to take the ride. Then it was that we would have to see what time the cruises were being scheduled. So we were going to Lockport just to see what things were like there. And then he looked at the brochure a little more thoroughly and found out that the last day for the cruises was yesterday, October 14, the day we were on the American Falls tour. “A day late and a dollar short,” Tom says. “But we will go anyway.”
So we had about two hours just to relax. We haven’t had much of that kind of time so we just vegged and enjoyed it. I even dozed as I sat on the sofa. We had lunch and were off to Lockport, NY to see part of the Erie Canal.
We found the Cruise Office. Two vessels were tied to the dock. They were very trusting because no one was around and everything was open. Tom and I or anyone else could have just walked on the vessel and taken off or done damage. We looked at both vessels from the dock and walked further down the property to see the area from a different point of view.
We saw a sign across the canal for Upson Park and decided to go see what that was all about. Besides it looked like you could see behind a lock or something like that. So Tom asked “The Man” to take us there and that “he” did.
We found the thing that we were looking at from across the way. It did look like a sort of a lock that might have been used to put vessels in dry dock. We don’t know for sure and there was no one there to ask.[On further investigation it is indeed a place to put vessels in dry dock!]
Another thing we found was a Canal Trail. We followed it backwards and found the Canal Museum, one of the locks of the canal, the mechanism that opens and closes the gate and the place where the water bypasses the lock. There were lots of things in the museum to see and a video presentation about how a lock works, the history of the canal and a musical presentation of life on the canal, the “Erie Canal Song.” We found many things along the Canal Trail that raised even more “what’s that” questions. As we walked away from the park Tom was heard to say, “Oh, well, a day late and a dollar short.” It would be a place to which we would want to come back.
We headed back to the campground by way of the Hobby Lobby store for more yarn and a gas station for gas for tomorrow’s trip to Lantz Corners (Kane, PA) and the Foote Rest Campground. Back at our present campground where we will be for one more night, Tom grilled ham and potatoes for dinner.
It seems that the wind has died down. I haven’t put my head out of the door to find out for sure. Think there is a possibility of showers tonight and again tomorrow morning. Gee whiz! Just in time to break camp. Low temperature for tomorrow morning is in the low 40s with a real feel of somewhere in the 30s. “Tom, where are your gloves?”
This campground is less than a mile from the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. I think that is the name of it. Earlier in our stay here I heard this loud low frequency sound that I had been taught somehow to associate with a “bomber.” (Excuse me, Steve, if I get this all backwards.) But tonight is the loudest and the longest that I have heard them. It may have something to do with the weather we are having right now; the wind and all that.) It may have something to do with “touch and goes.” Every once in a while I get to see one of these “chubby” fuselaged planes as opposed to the sleek fighter jets. But tonight is the first time this noise has been so loud for so long.
Yesterday I forgot to say something about the black squirrels that we saw in Niagara Falls, NY Park. They were beautiful. Our guide offered us this explanation: some years ago, as a project, the students at Kent State University introduced some black squirrels into the schools grounds and kept track of them to see where they would show up. A few years ago they showed up in Niagara Falls, NY. I wonder how long it will take for them to get to your area.
The evening is getting late and I have a few things to do yet, including seeing to it that this thing gets posted. We need to get some rest so that we can get out of here tomorrow. Talk to you all tomorrow night from Foote Rest Campground.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Lucky Day!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Lucky Day!
This morning came way too early. The alarm clock screamed for attention and then off to the showers. I came back for my umbrella and I wondered if it wasn’t raining when Tom went to the shower room because his was still in the trailer. It was warm, at least warmer than we usually found in the morning. I wore my flannel shirt and fleece vest only because it was handy. I certainly didn’t need it. The wind was a bit fresh. I put the umbrella down because the wind wanted to blow it inside out. It was raining harder when I came out the of the shower house, so I used it without any problem with the wind.
We headed off to Denny’s for breakfast. We found a place to park very easily and were seated right away. The waitress was able to make substitutions we wanted in the menu item that we ordered. By the time we were ready to leave there were quite a few people waiting to be seated.
We were an hour early to go right to the church, so we went back to the trailer for about an hour. Then off to church, which “The Man” found readily when we could find the correct roads that “he” wanted us to use. [A note for all of the new people reading this blog and for those who have forgotten: “The Man” is the name of the navigator we use for our vehicles. It came from the name that our grandson gave to the navigator that his parents use for their vehicles when he was much younger. His parents use a feminine voice on their navigator and he calls, or used to call it “The Lady.” We use a masculine voice so we call it “The Man.”]
St. Paul’s Church is in a racially mixed neighborhood, and we thought that this congregation would be too. I was getting excited about worshiping with them. When we arrived we saw Caucasians entering the church. When we entered the church we were greeted warmly. One woman finally said that Tom must be the one who emailed the church, and we guess that she was the one who responded to that e-mail. Lots of people welcomed us. Lots of people made it a point to seek us out to Pass the Peace and welcome us. Still more found us after worship to welcome us and invite us for the coffee hour. But this was not a racially mixed congregation. But the pastor announced that the Forum topic today and the next few weeks was the purpose of St. Paul’s Church. Hopefully they will be discussing the possibility of reaching out to the neighborhood.
Back to the trailer to change our clothes, eat lunch and, for me, to doze for a while until it was time to walk to the tour office to board a bus for a tour of the American and Bridal Veil Falls. This was another four-hour tour on top of the one yesterday. We had wondered whether we really needed to go on this one today. After our ride on the Maid of the Mist and the visit to the Cave of the Winds we decided it was.
The elevator takes you down 180 ft. to get on the Maid of the Mist which takes you right up, personal with the Horseshoe Falls. We were given souvenir raincoats (ponchos) to wear to keep us sort of dry. We were told to tie a knot in the bottom of the poncho to keep it from billowing up like a balloon. It worked. The rush of the winds and the mist from the pounding falls tried it’s best to get us wet. They succeeded most of the time, but the poncho did not billow if you tied the knot properly.
A trip to the Cave of the Winds is a climb down some wooden scaffolding and then up along the Bridal Falls. To take this trip we were not only given the obligatory raincoat/poncho but also sandals to assure the best footing on the steps and platforms. The water cascaded along the rocks under you as well as beside you. At one point the water from the falls came over the railings of the scaffolding. I just had to go and stand on that part of the platform so that my feet would get wet by the water.
The Hurricane Deck was the top-most platform before going right up to the Bridal Veil Falls. Then the trip down some of the steps and up the ramp to the elevator that takes you up to the top. And the best part - you get to keep your raincoat and sandals! ;o)
About the scaffolding: this is what the platforms and steps for the Cave of the Winds trip is built on. Each November when the park closes this scaffolding is taken down, or it would be taken down by the ice in the winter months. Then in the Spring, before the season opens again, it is rebuilt. I wonder who in their right minds would climb on those rocks so close to the falls.
You get to see a lot more things like the rapids, the whirlpool and Terrapin Point. And we have experienced that the bus driver/tour leaders make a big difference in how you get to see the attractions and the information you get about them and the area. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader was born in another part of the state of NY and came here some 35 years ago. Today’s bus driver and tour leader was born in Niagara Falls, NY and grew up here. She could tell us about the factories that grew up in the area and did or left the area and for what reasons. She showed us where her father had a meat market on a street where parades where held and how on cold days they could sit in the window of the upstairs room and view the parade in the warmth. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader knew the facts, but today’s bus driver and tour leader provided the color.
We got home a little after 6pm and had finished dinner by 7pm, thank you Smart Ones and a trailer with a microwave. We had noticed the sky was clouding over before we left the park but it didn’t let down its water until just after 7pm. It’s a good thing that our drying rack was under the awning or our towels would have gotten even wetter than they were.
Now is computer time and working on pictures. I hope to get into bed very, very soon. All in all, we were very lucky today.
Lucky Day!
This morning came way too early. The alarm clock screamed for attention and then off to the showers. I came back for my umbrella and I wondered if it wasn’t raining when Tom went to the shower room because his was still in the trailer. It was warm, at least warmer than we usually found in the morning. I wore my flannel shirt and fleece vest only because it was handy. I certainly didn’t need it. The wind was a bit fresh. I put the umbrella down because the wind wanted to blow it inside out. It was raining harder when I came out the of the shower house, so I used it without any problem with the wind.
We headed off to Denny’s for breakfast. We found a place to park very easily and were seated right away. The waitress was able to make substitutions we wanted in the menu item that we ordered. By the time we were ready to leave there were quite a few people waiting to be seated.
We were an hour early to go right to the church, so we went back to the trailer for about an hour. Then off to church, which “The Man” found readily when we could find the correct roads that “he” wanted us to use. [A note for all of the new people reading this blog and for those who have forgotten: “The Man” is the name of the navigator we use for our vehicles. It came from the name that our grandson gave to the navigator that his parents use for their vehicles when he was much younger. His parents use a feminine voice on their navigator and he calls, or used to call it “The Lady.” We use a masculine voice so we call it “The Man.”]
St. Paul’s Church is in a racially mixed neighborhood, and we thought that this congregation would be too. I was getting excited about worshiping with them. When we arrived we saw Caucasians entering the church. When we entered the church we were greeted warmly. One woman finally said that Tom must be the one who emailed the church, and we guess that she was the one who responded to that e-mail. Lots of people welcomed us. Lots of people made it a point to seek us out to Pass the Peace and welcome us. Still more found us after worship to welcome us and invite us for the coffee hour. But this was not a racially mixed congregation. But the pastor announced that the Forum topic today and the next few weeks was the purpose of St. Paul’s Church. Hopefully they will be discussing the possibility of reaching out to the neighborhood.
Back to the trailer to change our clothes, eat lunch and, for me, to doze for a while until it was time to walk to the tour office to board a bus for a tour of the American and Bridal Veil Falls. This was another four-hour tour on top of the one yesterday. We had wondered whether we really needed to go on this one today. After our ride on the Maid of the Mist and the visit to the Cave of the Winds we decided it was.
The elevator takes you down 180 ft. to get on the Maid of the Mist which takes you right up, personal with the Horseshoe Falls. We were given souvenir raincoats (ponchos) to wear to keep us sort of dry. We were told to tie a knot in the bottom of the poncho to keep it from billowing up like a balloon. It worked. The rush of the winds and the mist from the pounding falls tried it’s best to get us wet. They succeeded most of the time, but the poncho did not billow if you tied the knot properly.
A trip to the Cave of the Winds is a climb down some wooden scaffolding and then up along the Bridal Falls. To take this trip we were not only given the obligatory raincoat/poncho but also sandals to assure the best footing on the steps and platforms. The water cascaded along the rocks under you as well as beside you. At one point the water from the falls came over the railings of the scaffolding. I just had to go and stand on that part of the platform so that my feet would get wet by the water.
The Hurricane Deck was the top-most platform before going right up to the Bridal Veil Falls. Then the trip down some of the steps and up the ramp to the elevator that takes you up to the top. And the best part - you get to keep your raincoat and sandals! ;o)
About the scaffolding: this is what the platforms and steps for the Cave of the Winds trip is built on. Each November when the park closes this scaffolding is taken down, or it would be taken down by the ice in the winter months. Then in the Spring, before the season opens again, it is rebuilt. I wonder who in their right minds would climb on those rocks so close to the falls.
You get to see a lot more things like the rapids, the whirlpool and Terrapin Point. And we have experienced that the bus driver/tour leaders make a big difference in how you get to see the attractions and the information you get about them and the area. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader was born in another part of the state of NY and came here some 35 years ago. Today’s bus driver and tour leader was born in Niagara Falls, NY and grew up here. She could tell us about the factories that grew up in the area and did or left the area and for what reasons. She showed us where her father had a meat market on a street where parades where held and how on cold days they could sit in the window of the upstairs room and view the parade in the warmth. Yesterday’s bus driver and tour leader knew the facts, but today’s bus driver and tour leader provided the color.
We got home a little after 6pm and had finished dinner by 7pm, thank you Smart Ones and a trailer with a microwave. We had noticed the sky was clouding over before we left the park but it didn’t let down its water until just after 7pm. It’s a good thing that our drying rack was under the awning or our towels would have gotten even wetter than they were.
Now is computer time and working on pictures. I hope to get into bed very, very soon. All in all, we were very lucky today.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What a Tour!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What a Tour!
It was cold last night; very cold. I spent a few hours in the middle of the night wondering what I could do to get warm. When I looked at the clock it was 2:55am. The next thing I knew was that Tom was crawling out of bed and getting his shaving kit to go to the wash house. I looked at the clock; it was 5:45am. I called to him, “You can’t go to the wash house now. They don’t unlock it until 6am.” “Ooooh,” came the disappointed answer. “I just thought I’d get a head start on the day.” He turned the heat on and crawled back into bed for 15 minutes.
Temperature outside was about 30 degrees. Temperature inside was about 42 degrees. I felt bad for the people who spent the night in a tent.
We went to the shower house, which feels just a tad bit warmer than the restroom. There is no heat in either room but the construction of the shower house just makes you feel warmer. I think it was newly reconstructed in order to conform to the ADA law. There is a “handicap” bathroom in there with ample room for a wheel chair but not a grab bar in sight. Don’t know how anyone could transfer herself from her wheelchair to the toilet or vice versa. I assume that the men’s room is the same. There is no designated handicap shower or any shower with the correct equipment for a handicap person to take a shower. There is a ramp up to the outside door to remove the step up, but that’s all. Although the sinks are high enough to get a wheelchair under them I think the sinks are on top of a box-like construction where a person’s feet can approach the sink but that’s all the further a person in a wheelchair can go. geesh! The restrooms are just a plain old cinder block construction painted to make you feel better.
Through the rain (yes, again) I canhear first the fireworks and then the canon fire. Tonight the Canadians and the Americans are having a re-enactment of the battle, during the War of 1812, with the British for the land which is now Niagara Falls, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY. I think it is the entire weekend that the “soldiers” will be in the Park in Niagara Falls, Canada, with their tents and what-not. That would be neat to see. I have two friends (Hi, Martin and Andrew!) who participate in Civil War re-enactments, more so Martin than Andrew.
Today was the day that we were to take the tour on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We were told yesterday that the tour was to start at 8:30 but be at the tour office a few minutes early. On our way to the tour office we were told by the man who works in the campground office that the tour would start at 8:50. By the time we arrived at the tour office the man who works at the campground office had already told the tour agent, who was different from the person we bought the tours from yesterday, that we thought the tour was to start at 8:30. He apologized and told us that the tour started at 8:50 and they always have. At 8:30 another couple, Vince and Laura, showed up expecting an 8:30 tour start. So we four waited together until the bus arrived at 8:50. It turned out that we were the only ones on this tour on a 24 passenger bus! …Which was great for us.
The bus driver’s name was Martha and she was very knowledgeable as to the facts on both sides of the Niagara River. From the time we left the campground she told us about the things we were seeing and what roads we were on. I’m sorry that she will not be our driver tomorrow. She had dates and names down so pat. She even told us how to avoid the tourist traps, except for the one she delivered us to in order to use the “wash room” (Canadian term for “restroom) before the Maid of the Mist ride for our tour mates and the Skylon Tower ride and view for us, because we will get the Maid of the Mist ride tomorrow. She told us what to expect at the border crossing (open your passport to your picture and hold it up) and how to act (don’t kid with the agents). We got to walk behind the Falls, see the Giant Whirlpool, the Botanical Gardens and the floral clock. The clock is designed new each year and created and planted by the students of the horticultural school on the grounds of the park. There were pictures of the designs of the clock for each year from 1950 to 2007 in the base of the clock. The falls were awesome from every viewing perspective we had.
We got back to the campground a little after 2pm, which wasn’t bad timing for a 4-hour tour. I think a lot of the extra time was added as we waited, and waited and waited some more outside of the customs office just after we crossed the bridge into NY. After at least 10 minutes an agent came to the bus, collected our passports, took them to scan them and then brought them back. We were free. Once at the campground Martha drove around and let us off at our respective RVs. It was good to be home, but not for long.
We went out to find a restaurant for breakfast tomorrow, find the church and stop at Target to buy a few things we needed. Then back to the trailer and crashed.
The rain started just as we were coming out of Target and has continued for the most part since then. I think the weather forecast says it is supposed to be showers tonight, but so far the rain has not stopped long enough even to run to the restroom and back without an umbrella.
I feel very tired tonight. It’s not supposed to be as cold as it was last night. I hope not. When I get tired I get cold, and I don’t need a cold temperature on top of being tired. Right now, at 8:30pm, it is 45 degrees outside.
What a Tour!
It was cold last night; very cold. I spent a few hours in the middle of the night wondering what I could do to get warm. When I looked at the clock it was 2:55am. The next thing I knew was that Tom was crawling out of bed and getting his shaving kit to go to the wash house. I looked at the clock; it was 5:45am. I called to him, “You can’t go to the wash house now. They don’t unlock it until 6am.” “Ooooh,” came the disappointed answer. “I just thought I’d get a head start on the day.” He turned the heat on and crawled back into bed for 15 minutes.
Temperature outside was about 30 degrees. Temperature inside was about 42 degrees. I felt bad for the people who spent the night in a tent.
We went to the shower house, which feels just a tad bit warmer than the restroom. There is no heat in either room but the construction of the shower house just makes you feel warmer. I think it was newly reconstructed in order to conform to the ADA law. There is a “handicap” bathroom in there with ample room for a wheel chair but not a grab bar in sight. Don’t know how anyone could transfer herself from her wheelchair to the toilet or vice versa. I assume that the men’s room is the same. There is no designated handicap shower or any shower with the correct equipment for a handicap person to take a shower. There is a ramp up to the outside door to remove the step up, but that’s all. Although the sinks are high enough to get a wheelchair under them I think the sinks are on top of a box-like construction where a person’s feet can approach the sink but that’s all the further a person in a wheelchair can go. geesh! The restrooms are just a plain old cinder block construction painted to make you feel better.
Through the rain (yes, again) I canhear first the fireworks and then the canon fire. Tonight the Canadians and the Americans are having a re-enactment of the battle, during the War of 1812, with the British for the land which is now Niagara Falls, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY. I think it is the entire weekend that the “soldiers” will be in the Park in Niagara Falls, Canada, with their tents and what-not. That would be neat to see. I have two friends (Hi, Martin and Andrew!) who participate in Civil War re-enactments, more so Martin than Andrew.
Today was the day that we were to take the tour on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We were told yesterday that the tour was to start at 8:30 but be at the tour office a few minutes early. On our way to the tour office we were told by the man who works in the campground office that the tour would start at 8:50. By the time we arrived at the tour office the man who works at the campground office had already told the tour agent, who was different from the person we bought the tours from yesterday, that we thought the tour was to start at 8:30. He apologized and told us that the tour started at 8:50 and they always have. At 8:30 another couple, Vince and Laura, showed up expecting an 8:30 tour start. So we four waited together until the bus arrived at 8:50. It turned out that we were the only ones on this tour on a 24 passenger bus! …Which was great for us.
The bus driver’s name was Martha and she was very knowledgeable as to the facts on both sides of the Niagara River. From the time we left the campground she told us about the things we were seeing and what roads we were on. I’m sorry that she will not be our driver tomorrow. She had dates and names down so pat. She even told us how to avoid the tourist traps, except for the one she delivered us to in order to use the “wash room” (Canadian term for “restroom) before the Maid of the Mist ride for our tour mates and the Skylon Tower ride and view for us, because we will get the Maid of the Mist ride tomorrow. She told us what to expect at the border crossing (open your passport to your picture and hold it up) and how to act (don’t kid with the agents). We got to walk behind the Falls, see the Giant Whirlpool, the Botanical Gardens and the floral clock. The clock is designed new each year and created and planted by the students of the horticultural school on the grounds of the park. There were pictures of the designs of the clock for each year from 1950 to 2007 in the base of the clock. The falls were awesome from every viewing perspective we had.
We got back to the campground a little after 2pm, which wasn’t bad timing for a 4-hour tour. I think a lot of the extra time was added as we waited, and waited and waited some more outside of the customs office just after we crossed the bridge into NY. After at least 10 minutes an agent came to the bus, collected our passports, took them to scan them and then brought them back. We were free. Once at the campground Martha drove around and let us off at our respective RVs. It was good to be home, but not for long.
We went out to find a restaurant for breakfast tomorrow, find the church and stop at Target to buy a few things we needed. Then back to the trailer and crashed.
The rain started just as we were coming out of Target and has continued for the most part since then. I think the weather forecast says it is supposed to be showers tonight, but so far the rain has not stopped long enough even to run to the restroom and back without an umbrella.
I feel very tired tonight. It’s not supposed to be as cold as it was last night. I hope not. When I get tired I get cold, and I don’t need a cold temperature on top of being tired. Right now, at 8:30pm, it is 45 degrees outside.
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