Vermont - Day 10 - Brattleboro

Brattleboro North KOA
Sunday, 10 June 2018

today's route

Purple Gallinule

The bird book says I've been seeing birds that aren't here, which figures.  Birdwatching has always struck me as that kind of activity.

For instance, at my last campground, I would swear I saw a Purple Gallinule, but the bird book says they're not here.  I wouldn't have thought there were that many birds that look like them, though, and it was in the right habitat.

Chipping Sparrow

I've also been seeing a bird that I think must be a Chipping Sparrow.  Pretty little guy.  The ones I've been seeing look like this picture so I guess that's it.  (And of course I haven't taken any of these photos myself; it was someone else with real talent for photography (which my own photos have proved isn't me)

And for my final bird report, I saw a waxwing that the bird book says has to be a Cedar Waxwing because the other kind isn't here.  But you can't miss that crest.

Cedar Waxwing

I'm having an easier time with the plants - they tend to sit still long enough for me to get a decent look at them.  I'm seeing lots of blooming rhododendrons, huge hostas (as tall as Dexter's back), blackberries and peonies.  I haven't seen this collection of plants since I left Washington - makes me homesick.

I stopped in Wilmington today after I left the campground because I wanted to use the post office.  It wasn't until I tried to figure out why it wasn't open that I realized today is Sunday.  Oh well.  While I was in town I walked the dogs down the main (and almost only) street and saw an unusual trellis.  Actually, I think there's another word for this but haven't been able to remember what it is.  Nice shape, huh?

At the Village Roost Cafe and Marketplace (with a picture of a rooster outside), I found this sign:

Pretty well sums up my attitude.

Molly Stark

Inscription at the base

The southern "highway" across Vermont from the New York border to the New Hampshire border is Vermont Route 9, also known as the Molly Stark Byway.  They make sort of a big deal about Molly Stark here and, until today, I haven't been able to figure out why.  She was the wife of Gen. John Stark who fought and won the Battle of Bennington, which says why they might name a highway after him but not after her.  None of the museums I've been in have told me.  But today in Wilmington I came across this statue that helped explain it.  You never know when you're going to stumble on answers.

My original intent after leaving Wilmington was to go to a place called the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum, not far east of town.  Its website made it look interesting and I thought they could tell me about the birds and mammals here.  But when I got there I had second thoughts.  The building was perched at the side of the road on the side of a mountain, with almost no parking, and the entrance looked like it was down on the floor below the street level.  And actually the street wasn't a street but was Route 9, speed limit 50 mph, going downhill and around a curve right at the building.  And the building looked definitely rickety, which made me nervous.  Take away even one of those conditions and I would probably have checked it out anyway, but with all that combined, I didn't even bother getting out of the RV.  It just didn't look like it was worth the risk to me.

Instead I went on into Brattleboro, figuring I'd get to the Estey Organ Museum 1 a little early - I was thinking it opened at noon and I'd just walk the dogs and do a little on-line work.  But I got it wrong - it didn't open until 2:00.  I looked through the windows and I'm pretty sure it was only 1 room.  If we hadn't had several hours to wait, I'd probably have gone in anyway because they had maybe a dozen different kinds of organs in there and it looked pretty neat.  But I'm not really an organ person and I didn't want to wait 3 hours just for that, so we went on.  But you might want to check out the link to that website because the company's history is interesting.

Brattleboro is smack on the state line (aka the Connecticut River), so there was a high proportion of New Hampshire license plates - and quite a few Massachusetts plates, for that matter.  I saw one car with a bumper sticker that was made to look like a MA license plate, and it said: "Bumpah Stickah!"  And down below in smaller letters it said: "For the cah."  My momma would have enjoyed it.

There are still a lot of Victorian houses in town and very old commercial buildings, including one or two Art Deco style.

Brattleboro has a tradition that I just missed by a week - the Strolling of the Heifers.  They're a lot more laid-back here than in Pamplona, I guess.  I saw on line that they do a parade complete with cows, of course, and there was a picture showing a couple of people with some cows, and the people were holding a big sign that said : LUKE, I AM YOUR FARMER.  They've got a sense of humor here, too.  I'm sorry I missed it.

We stopped at a grocery store, ate lunch in the shade of some big trees at the edge of the parking lot, and then came on to this campground about 4 miles north of town.

Nice place.  For some reason I'm feeling really tired and would like to stay a little longer than one night, but I've already spent a third of the month hanging out in the very narrow lower section of the state.  There's still so much to see.  Well, I'll see how I feel in the morning.  Mornings are always better, I find.

New York - Day 29

Interlake RV Park, Rheinbeck
Tuesday, 29 May 2018

today's route

I drove more than 80 miles before we got out of the Adirondacks.  After so many years of being away from mountains, I felt at home again.  Of course there are evergreens everywhere and, now that spring has finally come, the understory is packed too, so it's easy to understand that old saying of not being able to see the forest for the trees.

Wild lilacs are blooming, rhododendrons are blooming.  There are small parking areas all along the road for hiking trails.  Adirondack Park is managed by New York state and is the largest publicly protected area in the Lower 48.  I'll bet it covers at least 1/4 of the land in the state.

I've been seeing Blue Jays again.  Maybe I've been seeing them and not paying attention, but I don't remember seeing them for a couple of months.

Once I got south of Albany, I hit the Taconic Parkway.  I kept thinking of Nero Wolfe's Archie Goodwin, who several times drove this parkway.  It is a parkway, too, with beautiful trees all around and no advertising.  It was apparently convertible weather, I say because I saw at least 3 with their tops down driving on the parkway.

As we left the parkway to go into Rheinbeck, we passed a restaurant with a sign showing a very large fork, and the name of the place was Another Fork in the Road.

In Rheinbeck, I stopped to walk the dogs and find a grocery store.  I couldn't help noticing that today was trash pick-up day, and the containers said, "Welsh Sanitation Service - Your Friendly Garbologist."  My first time for that word.  Somebody's got a sense of humor.

I'm back in the Hudson River Valley, this time on the east side of the river.  Trees trees everywhere.  More chipmunks.  Small towns connected by US and state routes, named with no creativity whatsoever: US 9, US 9E, US 9W, St. Rt. 9G, St. Rt. 9D, St. Rt. 9J.  You really have to know what road you want to keep from getting on the wrong one.  And though they may be designated highways, they're really just 2-lane streets connecting places that aren't very far apart.  With lots of trees in between.  Verdant. 

New York - Day 20 - When we finally got to Woodstock ...

Saugerties/Woodstock KOA

Sunday, 20 May 2018

I was very disappointed to not be able to connect with my friends while they were in the area, but I suppose it happens.

Instead I drove around this general area, getting a feel for the Hudson River Valley.  One thing I couldn’t help noticing was that the closer I got to New York City, the cheaper the gas prices got.  Back in the Syracuse vicinity, regular was usually a little over $3/gallon, give or take a few cents.  That gradually went down as I drove along the road east and south, and around here it’s usually $2.85 or so.  It wouldn’t have seemed like much when I was filling up Momma’s Honda, that didn’t take more than about 14 gallons, but when the RV’s down to about a third of a tank left, I can put in 35 or 40 gallons, and that 15¢ or more difference can add up.

I liked driving through Saugerties, which you have to do to stay on Rt 9W (the road that parallels the Hudson River on the west side); it seems a nice little town, lots of older buildings and homes.

Kingston is more spread out and crisscrossed by highways.

One of the things I enjoyed most about driving around Saugerties and Kingston and Woodstock and the even smaller towns in between were the names of businesses.

   Inquiring Minds Bookstore

   Lox of Bagels

   Bread Alone (a bakery)

   Cheese Louise!

   Metes and Bounds (a real estate company)

   Transcend Dental (near Woodstock)

In Woodstock I met a man wearing a t-shirt that said: National Sarcasm Society.  And lower down in smaller letters it said: Like we need your support.  He said he got it online.

Woodstock is a village that seems to be supported almost entirely by tourists.  Lots of clothing shops, several places that offered Tarot card readings, gift shops, like that.  But it has an actual life as a town because I watched the local Boy Scout troop put out flags to mark the graves of veterans in the local cemetery.  And I was there on a Sunday, so it may be more down-to-earth on weekdays.

I hadn’t realized till I looked more closely at the map that it’s actually in Catskill Park, at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.  That would help to explain all the ferns and hostas I see growing everywhere.  Including here at the KOA park, which is 7 miles down the road from Woodstock.

New York - Day 11 - Northwest NY

Niagara Falls/Lewiston KOA
Friday, 11 May 2018

This morning we had a glorious sunrise that went on and on.  It started in the lake, which turned sunrise colors while everything else was a dark slate color.  Then it moved into the sky, as you can see.  This photo is at the very tail end of it.

sunrise on Lake Ontario

My route for today aimed at the Niagara Falls area.  Driving near Lake Ontario, I saw one fruit farm after another.  Occasionally, there would be a road sign warning that I might encounter an Amish buggy along the next x miles.  It reminded me that yesterday I saw 2 buggies in the state park, coming from the picnic area, with several people in each, Amish by their dress.

Several places along the way, I've crossed the Erie Canal but never saw a place I could stop and take a photo.  Today in Medina (pronounced meh-DEYE-nuh) I managed it.  As you can see, it's been tamed since the days when mules pulled barges along the canal, and when children as young as 8 walked alongside the mules to keep them going.  But it's still being used.  Remarkable.  https://en.wikipedia.org/Erie-Canal 

Today I got really lucky when I stopped at the Medina Railroad Museum.  It bills itself as the "Largest Railroad & Toy Train Museum in N.Y. State!!"  And I don't doubt it.  Their model train layout is 204' long and 14' wide.  It has numerous trains and multiple scenery sites and is an absolute delight.  The brochure I was following didn't have the hours and I didn't have wi-fi, so I just showed up.  The woman at the front said they don't usually open till 11 (it was 25 till) but I asked if I could just look around for 10 minutes or so because I wanted to get back on the road, and she relented and let me in and turned on the lights and started up the only train she knew how to start up.  It was great.  And then after a bit I realized there were a couple of other trains running too, and saw that the engineer had come in.  I loved it.  I don't know why but there isn't anything like a great model train set to bring smiles to faces.

Going west from there, I passed a sign noting down a side road was a memorial to Belva Lockwood, who I learned on NCIS (hey, as long as you learn it, right?) was the first woman to run for US president.  I looked the memorial up to be sure I understood it right, and apparently there is a plaque, very hard to find, that memorializes her as the first woman to argue before the US Supreme Court (1879) and the first woman to run for US president (1884 & 1888) (a candidate for the National Equal Rights Party).

I came to a town, announced by a sign: "Welcome to Gasport, Established 1826, Population Just Right."

Tomorrow, Niagara Falls, I hope.

today's route

New York - Days 6 & 7

Lakeside Beach State Park, near Rochester
Monday, 7 May 2018

Sunday's route

Sunday, I drove from the west side of Seneca Lake, past the other, smaller Finger Lakes to Letchworth State Park.  More on that park later.

Geneva City Park at the north end of Seneca Lake

numerous farms in this photo

Too bad the morning was mostly overcast because this area is really pretty.  All along the way was farmland, as in this photo below, and many of the houses I passed had huge weeping willows in the yard, like this one (above) at the Geneva park.

Upper and Middle Falls

Letchworth State Park is known for the gorge running through it, carved centuries ago by the Genesee River.  The 550' gorge is known is the Grand Canyon of the East; certainly not as jaw-dropping as the real one but stunning nonetheless.  And the waterfalls are beautiful.  The Upper Falls are 70' high and 300' wide, though they don't look so impressive in this photo - the Upper Falls are the ones under the bridge in the distance.  The Middle Falls are 107' high and 285' wide.  You can see how that much water could carve a canyon.

In the park I saw several black squirrels and was lucky enough to find one that would sit still long enough for me to take a picture to prove he really is black.

Apparently, Heaven on earth for squirrels is here: there must be a million of them in this park, and Dexter was on the edge of his seat.  There are several "Wildlife Crossing" signs in the park and I promise at one of them I saw 2 squirrels crossing the road.

The whole way through the park I kept thinking it must have been built by the CCC and, sure enough, near the falls is a statue and plaques commemorating the work they did: 3000 of them staying in 4 camps from 1933 to 1941.

Monday's route

I had a route all planned out but got short-circuited when I learned the south entrance to the park was closed - probably till Memorial Day, like everything else I've wanted to see.  So I had to go out a different entrance and got turned around, making a substantial sidetrip into the New York countryside.  At least I can add Bliss to the places I've been, and not everybody can say that.

In one town I saw a store named "Junk and Disorderly."

Out in what seemed to me like the middle of nowhere - but was actually near the village of Darien Center - was a giant amusement park named Darien Lake Theme Park.  Giant, with a roller coaster that must have let the riders see two counties away.

Elba, NY, proclaims itself the Onion Capital of the World.  (They may want to have a little discussion with Walla Walla, WA, or Vidalia, GA.)

I guess in every road trip there comes a time when you come close to a fatal traffic accident, and today was mine (I hope it's the only one).  I was on a 2 lane road with no shoulder, coming up a hill, and saw a semi stopped at the top of the hill on the other side of the road.  Just as I got to the crest of the hill I saw another semi coming the other way, and he had pulled into my lane to go around the parked semi.  I had almost nowhere to go and he was going pretty fast, and I'm still not sure how I was able to pull over enough to avoid him.  What I am sure of was that it was only by inches, because I saw him right there.  I'm guessing he was as spooked by it as I was.  A little farther down the road I pulled over at someone's mailbox to regroup.  I wasn't really scared because it had happened too fast and was already over, but I may have been in shock, or in denial, or stunned, or something else numb.

For some reason I can't put my finger on, I wanted to go to Batavia, which is why there's another jog in the route I took.  It seems a nice enough town but has a very expensive grocery store that I stumbled on.  Why do I keep finding weird grocery stores?  Everything I bought cost a lot more money than I've seen it anywhere else.  Oh well.  I have supplies.

It was in Batavia that I encountered my first instance of road rage.  I'd pulled out of the grocery store parking lot into the center turn lane and sat there waiting till I could pull into traffic.  I heard somebody lean on their horn and they gave me the finger very decidedly, then pulled in ahead of me at a turn lane, at which point I could see it was a woman (I normally think of men in this context, apparently a sexist thought).  There were 2 odd things about that: one is that I hadn't done anything at all that should have been a problem for that driver, and the other is that the license plate frame read "Massage Therapist."  If she is one, I'm glad I'm not going to her, and if she isn't, I hope she was hot-footing it over to a session.  But you know, I've come a long distance to have this be my first time.  Not bad.

I'm scheduled to spend a couple of nights at this state park and consider myself luckier than I expected because my campsite is right on Lake Ontario, which has gorgeous sunsets.

Lake Ontario makes a nice background

the sunset out my bedroom windows

Pennsylvania - Day 28 - Delaware Gap

Promised Land State Park, near Scranton

Saturday, 28 April 2018

Not only does Pennsylvania have seasons for various kinds of hunting, it has a season for dog training, which has recently ended.  I’m guessing it’s training for hunting dogs, but I’ve never heard of an official season for it.

At least this section of PA appears to be solidly Trump country.  Today I saw a sign in someone’s yard saying, “Trump in 2020.”  Yesterday I saw a sign in someone else’s yard saying, “Thank God for Trump.”  And of course, many other Trump/Pence signs.

I can get 2 TV stations at this campground – the local PBS station and a FOX affiliate.  I know there are other stations available with a cable or in the bigger cities, but out here maybe the choices describe the situation.

Today I took some small state roads to go southeast from the park over toward the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area.  On the way I got stopped in the middle of nowhere by a traffic light, and sat for a while till it turned green.  Seems there was a 1-lane road ahead around a blind curve and this is the highway department’s way of keeping people from killing each other when they’re not around.  But it felt weird to be sitting at a red light with nothing around.

Along the road I saw what looked like official street signs (green with reflective lettering) that were clearly personally named: Annie’s Place, Uncle Sam’s, Deer Lodge Road.  Then I saw one that said Notta Road, and I looked down it and sure enough, it wasn’t a road, it was a driveway.

The village of Analomink (okay, that’s creative) should be renamed Forsythia Village.  Some years ago the entire town (apparently) planted forsythia bushes and today it’s a blaze of bright yellow and gorgeous.

In the small town of Canadensis I found St. John the Beloved Coptic Orthodox Monastery.

Canadensis is clearly a resort town in an old-fashioned way (nothing shiny, just motels and restaurants that have been there for some years), even though it’s 20 slow miles from the attractions.  As the day went on, I realized this whole area is geared for tourists.  And then I realized it’s in the Pocono Mountains, separated only by the Delaware River from both New York and New Jersey, and that’s been a vacation area for the city folks for decades.  Movies from the 1960s mention it.

The azaleas have started to bloom in the Delaware River area.

I’d thought about going to Bushkill Falls, which are part of the Natl. Rec. Area and are supposed to be magnificent, but got stopped by two things: one is that today is a warm sunny Saturday and many many people are out enjoying it; the other is that the Falls (according to its website) has been turned into a sort of destination with fake gold panning for the kids and playgrounds and stuff – lots of stuff – that has nothing (in my mind) to do with the glory of waterfalls, and they charge a lot of money to get into it.  I guess if it had been a dreary Tuesday, I’d have paid the money, figuring I’d be able to hike to the falls and have them much more to myself and the way Nature intended.  But not today.

In one town traffic got stopped by police escorting a funeral procession that was made up almost entirely of motorcycles.  That was a new one on me.

Dunkin Donuts are everywhere, throughout Pennsylvania, even in very small towns.

I’ve been seeing more buildings that were built in the late 1880s and early 1900s, and then I realized that’s about the same time frame as the older houses in Texas and what was the big deal.  And then I came across Dingman’s Ferry, which is now a toll bridge to New Jersey but was originally the site of one of the first ferries across the Delaware, circa 1750.  And farther up the road I stopped for a bit at Milford, founded 1733.  That’s old.

An establishment in Milford had a sign in front saying, “Botox and Brunch.”  What on earth do you think they’re doing? I  met a group of 7 women, maybe in their late 30s, sitting on park benches in the sun who wanted to pat the dogs.  They told me they’re old friends who get together once a year for a weekend, though most of them still live nearby, but one has moved to Massachusetts.  So far away.

As I was leaving Milford I saw a highway sign telling me Matamoras was 6 miles to the north.  Now, this was a little disconcerting because, as a born-n-raised Texan, I know exactly where Matamoros is and that wasn’t it.  Turns out there’s a town named Matamoras (spelled differently) that sits exactly at the junction of PA and NY and NJ.  A border town, of course.

The campground literature has a whole section warning about bears.  Seems PA has the largest black bears in the US, with most of them in the Poconos, and those in this county can grow over 800 pounds.  That is indeed pretty big for a black bear.  Fortunately, we haven’t met one yet – I’m sure Dexter would get himself shredded trying to capture it.

This park has absolutely masses of wild rhododendrons.  Makes me feel back home in western Washington.

Pennsylvania - Day 23

Hilton Garden Hotel, Harrisburg

Monday, 23 April 2018

I waited till almost 10:00 this morning to leave, hoping the Monday morning traffic would die down, which it had, and also hoping any lingering ice on the highway would have dissipated, which it did.

I can’t remember if I mentioned before that going in to Pittsburgh from the SW (I was on I-376, a semi-ring road), you first go down a steep hill 1½ miles long, with signs telling trucks to limit speed to 25 mph, with a runaway truck ramp partway down, and zero chance to exit once they tell you about it.  Fortunately, it was completely dry plus traffic was nearly at a standstill in several places, so I didn’t have to worry about hurtling down this hill as I’d done when I went to town last week.  At the bottom of the hill is the Fort Pitt Tunnel (.6 mi long) and at the end of that is the Fort Pitt Bridge, which goes over the Monongahela River.  And then instantly you’re in Pittsburgh – no easing into it.  What an introduction.

I was able to stay on I-376 all the way through town, which made things less harrowing by not needing to change lanes or watch out for road signs.  On the left, I was pleased to see the Cathedral of Learning sticking up high enough for me to be able to see it from the highway, like an old friend.  On the right, I saw a large Russian Orthodox church.  According to the 2010 census, only 1% of the state’s population is orthodox so I’m surprised they’ve got such large churches in at least Erie, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.  Leaving town we had another tunnel, the Squirrel Hill Tunnel (.8 mile).

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, these tunnels are all well-lighted and completely tiled, no shoulders but the lanes are just about wide enough.  But I find them very hard to drive through because, at those lengths, they become hypnotic, making driving in them scary for me.  Closer to Harrisburg I again went through Allegheny Mountain Tunnel (1.2 mi), Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel (1.0 mi), Kittatinny Tunnel (1.0 mi) and Blue Mountain Tunnel (.8 mi).

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned all the cattails I’ve seen around the state.  I suppose where they’re growing is where there’s water, but that’s not what grows near water in Texas, so I’m not used to seeing them.

I decided to take the turnpike back to Harrisburg, hoping to avoid steep hills, and there weren’t any.  What there were instead were multiple s-curves and extremely strong crosswinds, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that I wasn’t trying to drive in those conditions with possible black ice on the road.

Once again along this road I noticed all the family farms.  At one point I counted 3 I could see at one time on the upcoming hillsides, and 2 more as we came over the next hill, and 3 more as we came over the next next hill.  Gracie was having trouble with carsickness so I opened the vents and a window for her.  After a bit I noticed a really strong smell of manure.   It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that if I closed the window and vents I might not smell it as strong, which worked.

A lot of the farms were dairy farms, and one had “DRINK MILK” painted on the side of the barn.  (Milk is PA’s most important farm product.)  Several of them were sheep farms, and at one I saw some lambs with one mama having twins – cute little guys - skittering after her. I really wish I had been able to take a photo of even one of these farms, and maybe sometime this next week I can.  But in the meantime, if you’ve seen the Harrison Ford movie “Witness” you can see what they look like.

Part way across I passed a sign that said we were entering the Chesapeake Bay Watershed System.  Who’d have thought it’d start so far away.

I saw a clever billboard advertising services at the next town.  It showed 3 dogs sitting in the front seat of a truck.  The dog in the passenger seat was dreaming about a bone, the dog in the middle was dreaming about a bed, and the bulldog hunched over the steering wheel was dreaming about a fire hydrant.

All along the way I saw wooded hills – but I’m not sure I really noticed them the first time I went by because most of the trees are still bare.  About 3/5 of PA is still forested.  The farther east I came, the more I started to see spring green on a few of the trees.  Here in Harrisburg the cherry trees are blooming.  Spring is coming late, but it’s coming.

I had to get turned down by 3 other hotels before I found this one, but here the woman said yes quickly and with a smile.  I wouldn’t have expected a Hilton to say yes.  You just never know what you’re going to get when you ask a question.

driving to Erie

Erie KOA, Erie PA

Sunday, 15 April 2018

Near where we parked last night is a restaurant called Burgatory, advertising a “helluva burger & heavenly shakes.” There’s also a chain of restaurants called Quaker Steak & Lube that look like the old Quaker State oil change places with the white buildings and green trim.

On the road in to Pittsburgh yesterday, there was a stretch of roadwork, and a sign said, “Merge Here – Take Your Turn.” I don’t remember any highway department ever telling us to mind our manners. Today I saw another highway dept. sign that said, “Buckle Up Next Million Miles.” They’re different here in Pennsylvania.

I went to a grocery store the other day called ALDI. It’s a chain I’ve seen all over the state. It always seemed odd to me because they’d be almost right next to another grocery store and I never could figure out why they’d be located as they are. I guess I found out. What was in the ALDI I went to were a few items of national brands with low prices (loss leaders) and everything else with store brands. I couldn’t even find any Lay’s potato chips – they had only the store’s brand. It was weird. So I left and went right next door to another grocery store.

I really wanted to like Pittsburgh and I can see that it’s got a lot of charm. With all those bridges and hills and green spaces and colleges and old sections and ethnic neighborhoods it’s got a lot going for it. But the street system made it hard for me to navigate, especially with my RV. It was almost like a person who’s really great but hard to get to know. I wouldn’t mind spending more time there – as long as there isn’t a marathon or something happening.

On the drive up to Erie today I passed more family farms most of the way up. I also passed the turnoffs to the state’s biggest natural and manmade lakes (Conneaut and Pymatuning, respectively).

Tomorrow I’ll go see what Erie has to offer. Some snow is predicted Monday and Tuesday – they’re saying 1” to 2” with freezing temps at night, which would likely mean ice on the roads. I was planning to spend Tuesday night at a state park in the middle of the Allegheny National Forest, but now I’m thinking I might be better off lying low here at the KOA that night. I made my plans when I believed winter would end, which it’s not clear will happen. At least Erie is unlikely to get buried like the Midwest cities, so it could have been much worse for my plans. I’ll see what they say later on.

Hagerstown KOA, MD

Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA, MD

Saturday, 31 March 2018

In Lewes before I left this morning, I saw a sign for “Tootsie Poop Service.”  I swear.

lAlong the roadways in Delaware, I saw sometimes whole fields of a purple groundcover I don’t think I’ve seen before.  Lots of it.  It was really pretty.

After I was just past Washington DC the road started climbing – an actual mountain.  Well, the east coast version of one.  A sign said South Mountain 1200’.  And I saw a few more in the distance.  It was nice to see some elevation again.

This park is a little odd.  Nice people, as all KOAs seem to have.  But the roadways are incredibly muddy.  I’m sure they had some weather event, probably last night, but I’d think they’d have planned for that.  Many of these RVs are really big and heavy.  I walked the dogs around the park (Gracie nearly came unglued because some kids were playing with a ball) and had to work really hard to find a non-deep section of mud to walk through in some places.  Not going to be a nice walk during the dark.  Maybe I should wear my rubber boots.

Those of us who do lots of crossword puzzles have heard of Edy’s ice cream, even if we’ve never lived where it’s available, as I haven’t.  So I thought to look for it in the last grocery store and they had it.  It’s actually really good ice cream.

Now that my bed’s remade and the time is here, I’m excited about what this trip will be like.  I’ve already figured out I can’t see everything I want to see, not having either the time or the money for it.  Did you know it costs $25 to take a tour of the Crayola factory?  I’m not going to pay it, but too bad.  But there’ll still be lots to see I’ve never seen, and I’m looking forward to talking with residents to see what they think’s special about their state.

It’ll be interesting no matter what.

Trap Pond State Park, DE II

Trap Pond State Park, DE
Tuesday, 27 March 2018

On the weather report this morning, I swear the guy said that a front coming through Atlanta "breaks through like Sherman."

Every place I've stayed has had some kind of alcohol policy, usually of the don't stick it in anybody's face and we won't bother you variety.  But there was one park, I think it was in North Carolina, that said alcohol was absolutely prohibited, including the possession of it.  I kept wondering if one of the rangers routinely went around to RVs insisting on being allowed to inspect the contents for alcohol possession.  Anyway, nobody did while I was there.

Canada geese on Trap Pond

There's a flock of Canada geese hanging out at the pond and making a lot of noise  I don't know if you can see them in this photo - they're on the opposite side of the pond - but I thought I'd try.  The small colorful objects in the trees are fishing lures.

The geese seemed huge to me, and the bird book says I'm right - the eastern species is the largest and the western (that I'm used to seeing) is often the smallest.

This campground has what most of them do: a lot of spaces for RVs, about 18 for tents, and cabins that can be rented.  What surprised me is that they also have 2 yurts for rent, and I've never seen anything quite like these.  I hope this one shows up in the photo.  They're perched beside Trap Pond.

cabin and yurt for rent

Can you see the dogs?

I'm much better at parking than at first.  I've learned there's no shame in getting out and looking at my progress - even several times - and that makes a huge difference in my parking success.

I am currently receiving yet another lesson in planning ahead.  Despite using the heater far more often than I had been, due to really cold temps (it got down to 27° last night), I didn't think to check the propane level until this afternoon.  Which is when I discovered that the tank was nearly empty.  Not so great with another cold night (only 37° but still) and needing my propane stove to make coffee in the morning.  One of the rangers told me a gas station about 4 miles away sold propane, and I decided it was worth the hassle of unplugging and driving down the road just to be sure we'd stay warm tonight.  Not so simple.

The place 4 miles away does sell propane but couldn't get a good seal on the propane hose.  They directed me to a station 7 miles away so off I went.  That guy tried hard but his hose just couldn't get a good enough attachment.  He directed me to another station a mile back the way I'd come.  This third place said they only sold it in bottles, so sorry, but suggested I go back to a truck stop back down toward the park.  At the truck stop, they said they didn't sell propane but they got on the internet and on the phone and found a Trucking Supply store b-a-c-k down the road I'd already been down several times.  I went to the TS store and that guy tried several times but just couldn't make a good seal.  By then it was after 5:00 and most places were closing up.  I decided to tough it out for one night and deal with the coffee situation in the morning.

I drove nearly 50 miles doing all this and wound up with a still almost empty propane tank.

During the last drive, I decided what I need is an RV dealer.  They're in the business of taking care of RVs, including their propane tanks.  The RV place that did my repair in Jacksonville is the last place I got my tank filled, which is why I thought of it.

So since this very nice state park allows me to get wi-fi, I looked up RV dealers in Delaware.  And this being a very small state, they're all pretty easy to get to.  In fact, there's one back down the road I drove up and down and up and down this afternoon.  This time I think I'll call first.

But I'm bound to find somebody in the state of Delaware who can fill up my propane tank.  If I had a separate removable tank, lots of people could have filled it up, but since mine's part of my RV, the nozzle has to be configured differently.  The last guy explained this to me.

Every single person I came in contact with was as nice and helpful as anyone could wish to meet.  I now have a very high opinion of the people of Delaware.

Addendum Wednesday morning

We are indeed cold.  I had an easier time than the critters because I could - and did - add extra clothes and a sleeping bag and a heating pad to keep warm during the night.  I tried to cover up my kids but found they'd all tossed off the covers by morning.  My previous batch of pets used to love covers but none of this crew does.  I tried.

Because I have electric power, I have use of the frig and microwave.  So for coffee this morning I used the microwave to heat up leftover coffee I'd stored in the frig, and ditto for water to make instant miso soup to go with a PBJ sandwich.  Maybe not a standard breakfast but covers several of the major food groups and is filling.  I'd peel a couple of mandarins if I were warmer.  Maybe for lunch.

My next campground is only about an hour away, so I have plenty of time to find propane and a grocery store.

Little Pee Dee State Park, SC

Sunday, 18 March 2018

Little Pee Dee State Park, SC

When I was walking the dogs in Myrtle Beach this morning, I saw a sign on the door of the Dixie Beverage Store that said:

All liquor stores close at 7 PM in South Carolina.

* Yes we know it’s a stupid law.

* Yes the store across the street is closed also.

* Yes the whole state.

* Yes we know in your state and many others you can stay open later. We can’t.

* No this didn’t just start. It has been this way for over 20 years.

* If it’s after 7PM and you are reading this sign, we’ll see you in the morning.

You think they get asked this a lot?

The beach was only about 4 blocks from the KOA so I took the dogs down there. I’m pleased to report that the Atlantic Ocean is still rolling along as usual. It seemed to be a nice beach, hard to tell though because it was only 5:30 and very dark. (I’m not a fan of daylight savings time.) Fortunately nobody else seems to go to the beach at that hour so the dogs could roughhouse for a bit – the first time in a while for them and they loved it. Rolling around in the sand and all.

While I was here, I tried out some pork ribs in my crock pot. I learned a month ago that the outlets near the kitchen sink don’t work very well – when I try to charge up the phone or the camera battery, they only get partly charged while saying they’re fully charged. So I wasn’t able to just stick the crock pot in the sink, as I had hoped, but instead had to put it on the table and use the plug down by Gracie’s bed underneath. That actually worked well, but the potential for real trouble came when I left Dexter behind while I was walking Gracie. There’s absolutely no way I could trust him with such access to those ribs. He can and does jump up on the table – actually, he can and does jump up on the bed, and that’s a standing 3½’ jump. He’s very athletic. Also very willing to ignore the heated crock pot in search of pork ribs. I unplugged it and moved it to the back of the stove while we were gone, and that worked fine. I just cooked them a while longer than I would have. The moral of that story is: people who can’t be flexible have no business full-timing it in a 24’ RV with 2 largish dogs and 2 cats.

Before I left the KOA I took a photo of that trampoline/hot air bouncy thing. You can see a little kid on it – that thing is huge.

As I was going through the last town before getting to this park, I passed North Mullins Primary School. Apparently they don’t have elementary schools in South Carolina.

Not many people are staying in the park right now, which is nice considering Dexter barks when I take Gracie for a walk without him – not as many people to disturb. The roads and the campsites are entirely of sand, which seems odd since we’re a ways from the beach. Like about a 100 miles away. Trucked in or left over from when this was covered by the ocean a million years ago?

I can’t pick up a wi-fi signal at my campsite. I have to go back to the ranger station at 4:00 to sign in so I’ll see if there’s a signal there. Odd because I’ve got 2 bars on my phone, and my hot spot usually gets a signal even when my phone doesn’t. Some parks I’ve been in the signal comes and goes. Maybe here too.

Rocky Bayou (FL) State Park

Sunday, 4 March 2018

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, FL

This was my longest drive yet – just over 400 miles.  It’s a good thing we got an early start – 7:30 – because we didn’t get to the park until after 4:00, with a short stop at noon to stretch legs and eat lunch.

The park told me my site is reserved for tomorrow but they have one other site opening up.  The ranger wasn’t allowed to do it for me – they’re constrained by their agreement with ReserveAmerica, which I’m learning to dislike.  So after I got plugged in and dog-walked, the first thing I did was reserve the other spot for tomorrow.  We’re too tired for me to want to drive any farther than a few hundred feet tomorrow.

Although long, the drive was pleasant.  Flocks of Red-winged blackbirds in lots of fields – they’re so pretty when they fly with their deep black feathers and stunning red accents.  I saw longhorns and a calf being raised in northern Louisiana.

In Mississippi I saw a chain of seafood/catfish parlors with signs that said “Closed Sundays in honor of our Lord.”  One of them had an enormous cross in front – I could see it a long way down the road and figured it must be a church.   Nah, just a catfish place.

I saw driving in the opposite direction a largish RV towing what looked like a piece of heavy equipment.  That didn’t make sense to my brain, so I decided what I really saw was either a Bobcat or a fancy off-road vehicle.  But later I passed another one which was, in fact, towing some kind of heavy equipment.  I hadn’t imagined it.  And later, another.  And another.  I saw at least 6 of these combos.  All spaced out, over a period of several hours, on 3 different highways, all going the same direction.  What kind of mileage are these people getting?   And where could they have been going?  And why get their equipment transported using RVs?  Ah, the mysteries of life.

I passed an old white house with a front porch swing and a tire swing at the other end of the porch.  Comfort for the whole family.

In Mississippi, I saw lots of azaleas blooming like crazy.  It seems a little early for them, but I’m sure that’s what they were.

I passed a business named “Helen Back Designs.”  Somebody’s got a sense of humor.

I saw a bunch of what I think were Little Blue Herons apparently feeding in some standing water along the highway.  They’re pretty big and dark and it was a surprise to me to see them there.

I saw several deer wisely deciding not to cross a very busy 4-lane highway in Florida.  I couldn’t see even so much as a field on the other side so have no idea why that would have seemed like a good idea to them.

I knew I was in Florida when I saw a Publix grocery store.