Day 36: Rutland, MA

Stop 29 / State 17: Rutland, MA (finally!)

Today was a 140 mile hop via the New York Throughway and Mass Pike to Briar's house in Rutland, MA.  First (not so) major event was the state line.

We arrived at B&G's. We had stressed the whole trip over backing into the driveway ( the house is on Main Street (45 MPH and very busy). It ended up to be no problem at all. We came in from the Holden direction and turned into the bank lot across the street from Briar's where I was able to straighten out for the back into Briar's driveway. I had a couple of large orange flags sent to B&G's a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure that they were both embarrassed but, with Kristen wearing an orange vest (that we had to buy in Italy a few years ago in order to be compliant with the law) and carrying a flag and Briar carrying a flag, they stopped traffic while I backed across the road into the driveway.

The end result:

Maya and Nikos couldn't wait to get into the trailer:

 

They quickly discovered our stash of games and insisted on playing Scrabble (tough when your spelling is limited or non-existent.

 

Now that we're going to be stationary for a couple of weeks, I'll probably take a break from the blogging. We're thinking about running up to Maine for a couple of days, so of course, that will be reported if it happens.  More later!

-J-

Day 35: Catskill, NY

Stop 28 / State 16:  Catskill, NY

We almost had a 17th state in here today. The New York / New Jersey border ends at the Delaware River just a few feet South of where I-84 crosses from Pennsylvania into New York.  We thought of getting off and back on at the first off-ramp just so we could add New Jersey to the list for this trip.

That's New Jersey on the left bank of the Delaware (we think):

The "Welcome to New York" sign was in the center divider and was almost missed as a truck passed on our left at a crucial time (Kristen had to move quickly and was lucky to get this much of the sign:

I kind of jumped right past the difficult beginning that we had today. The park that we were in was downhill from the road. The way in from that road was a gravel road. Coming in, going downhill, it was no problem. Leaving, going uphill, was also no problem - until we stopped at the stop sign at the top of the hill. Could we get started again after we stopped?  No way. We just spun. Our truck even has the special differential that keeps both wheels spinning when on one starts to slip but does no good at all when they both slip.


Finally. Kristen helped me back all the way back down the hill. Then she went up to the stop sign to watch for traffic. When she gave me to go ahead, I raced up the hill and ran the stop sign. Once I was on the pavement, I stopped for her to get in and we were off.

Catskill, NY is very close to Woodstock, NY so, of course, we wanted to see the sight of the 1969 festival. When we got here, we couldn't get the internet to work and we had no cell phone service so there was no way to find out the actual location. We drove to downtown Woodstock and saw an information kiosk. Kristen jumped out, hoping to find a map. The best she could do was a flyer for a concert related museum - in Bethel, NY. Now that we have our internet working, I've looked it up. The festival was indeed in Bethel, NY which is about 80 miles from here. The promoters called their company Woodstock because Bob Dylan lived there and it must be a cool place.

Next thing that we wanted to see was the Hudson River.  Coming up the New York State Throughway, we'd seen a billboard for Hudson River boat tours in Saugerties, NY.  Saugerties was close by so we figured it for a good spot to see the Hudson.  It was!

This is the Saugerties Light House (a bed and breakfast now):

 

Here's a couple of shots of the river from the lighthouse (apologies for the filthy lense - I've been unable to clean it but I'm sure that my photographer daughter will know just what to do when we get to her house tomorrow):

And, of course, here's today's trailer picture:

 

-J-

Day 34: Lake Ariel, PA

Stop 27:  Lake Ariel, PA

181 uneventful miles today to Lake Ariel (in the Poconos near Scranton). This park apparently really jumps on the weekends when they have a full summer concert schedule. During the week, it's just us and a few people who look like they've settled in for the summer.

We're spoiled. After that beautiful park in Gettysburg, this one just seems OK (even though it's situated on a very pretty lake).

Here's our trailer with the lake in the background:

And a couple of shots of the lake:

 

 

-J-

Day 33: Gettysburg, PA

Stop 26 / State 15:  Gettysburg, PA

Today's drive was a short 81 miles, much of it on smaller, country roads.  Shortly before reaching Gettysburg, we crossed the state line.

  Just as soon as we were set up, we took off for the National Military Park. 

First stop was the Visitors Center where we went through the museum, saw a short film and visited the Cyclorama (below).

Then we went on the self guided tour of the battleground.  It's unfortunate that they had to pick such a beautiful location for such an ugly battle.  The area was huge and it seemed like there were monuments everywhere we looked.  There seemed to be a monument for every small unit that participated in the battle (and for every larger unit right up the chain - every state had a monument).

 

Out on the battlefield, there were many barns and other structures that were there during the battle.

 

A confederate canon on Seminary Ridge.

The South Carolina Monument on Seminary Ridge:

We took a hike up to Big Round Top.  These woods are very much like the

park where we have our Trailer.

The view from Little Round Top:

Of course, the biggest monument in the whole place is ... Pennsylvania!

Visited the Gettysburg National Cemetery and found it interesting that the monument to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address isn't at the site where he gave the speech because they built something else there.

The Soldiers National Monument was built at the site where Lincoln gave his speech:

And here's our trailer picture.  Can't believe how lush the forest is.  A neighbor just showed us how to spot poison ivy (looks surprisingly like poison oak - good to know).

 

-J-



Day 32: College Park, MD (cont.)

Still in College Park, MD:

Another heavy walking day in Washington, DC.  Today, we had a much clearer idea of where we were, where we wanted to go, and how we could accomplish that with the smallest number of wasted steps.  Little to report but a lot of pictures:

The Library of Congress (closed on Sunday, of course):

The Supreme Court Building (that's an elaborately painted tarp across the front - the building undergoing some restoration):

The Capitol's main entrance (closed on Sunday, of course):

The House of Representatives side of the Capitol:

The Senate side of the Capitol:

Going around the House of Representatives end:

The side of the Capitol that faces the Mall:

Looking down the Mall from the Capitol:

 

Reproduction of the Apollo/Soyez joint mission that took place in 1972 (essentially, they docked)

at the National Air and Space Museum:

Assorted missles at the National Air and Space Museum (Skylab is on the left, Hubble space telescope in the background and Apollo/Soyez rendezvous on the right):

Kristen next to the nozzle from a Saturn booster at the National Air and Space Museum:

The Wright Flyer at the National Air and Space Museum:

The Spirit of St. Louis at the National Air and Space Museum:

The X-15 at the National Air and Space Museum:

The Smithsonian Castle:

Good Humor truck on display outside of the National Museum of American History.  Funny story:  Kristen forgot that she had a small pepper spray dispenser in her purse.  Security at the museum was checking all bags and wouldn't let her in.  I was already through and went back out with her.  I put her spray in my pocket and the two of us went back in - no problem.  Later, I had to toss the sprayer at the National Archives where security was a little bit more thorough.

 

Dorothy's ruby slippers at the National Museum of American History.  We also saw Archie Bunker's chair and the Star Spangled Banner (alas, Fonzie's leather jacket was no longer on display - worthwhile anyway):

Ford's Theater:

 

Across the street from Ford's Theater, the house where Lincoln died.

We just happened to walk by the FBI (J. Edgar Hoover) Building:

The National Archive where we viewed the Declaration of Independence,

the Constitution and the Bill of Rights:

-J-