It always seems like the last blog entrée takes a few days after we return home for the last pictures to be downloaded and I find enough time to sit and type. It is now a week after our trip to Pennsylvania.
Our last day at the Allegheny National Recreation Campground was a pleasant one, just kicking back and relaxing! We finally got to visit with the folks in the Aerolite fifth wheel and found out that the old gentleman has retired from NCR! A long time before Harry was! And he was a pilot! No wonder he had trouble backing in that camper - - - pilots don’t back up!!
Our last day was marred only by the jerk who pulled in at 10 30 at night in a huge diesel truck with a huge 3 axle fifth wheel. They woke up the whole campground, I think. Oh well, we were up early on Monday and got on our way home. But our last view as we left the Allegheny forest was the sighting of a bear sitting in a dense field of wildflowers, eating her breakfast!
The boat was repaired by Wednesday and is ready to go back in the water! Harry has now also sold his beloved Suzuki Samurai (see our last trip) and is soothing his loss by shopping for a new Jeep with a skid plates for off roading and a tow package to pull the trailer!
Be sure to check this page in September for our next venture! See you then!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sunday, August 3rd – and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Let’s get started! Let’s go back to Friday August 1st!
I have some good news and I have some bad news. The Good News - - - today is the anniversary of my retirement from State Farm Insurance! Thank You, Dana! I told everyone when I left that I planned to: 1. Fight with my husband, 2. Travel, and 3. Clean the closets. I have had one teeny fight with Harry; I have cleaned 2 closets and we have traveled thru 18 states in the last 12 months!
Friday was another pretty day for a boat ride-this time north into New York. The boat was loaded and we pushed off from the dock. Part way out of the bay, H remembered that he forgot the map so we returned to the dock. On our second attempt to head north, we again were almost out of the bay when the forward momentum of the boat slacked and the engine/outdrive began to whine.-high pitched and complaining. We flagged another boater who was heading for the dock and put the boat back on its trailer. It didn’t take him long to assess the problem but it cannot be fixed till we return home. The rest of that fine day was spent on shore – hiking, reading and I got lots of knitting done! Oh, yeah and he took me out for an ice cream cone for my birthday!
Saturday the 2nd we started off in the truck with the intent of attending the I Love Lucy Birthday Celebration in Jamestown NY. We were sidetracked just a few miles up the road by the Allegheny State Park, which is the New York connection to the Allegheny National Forest that is the Pennsylvania end of it all. There was a Tri-Athelon going on so the gates were open to all! And we went in!! The park is HUGE - - 65,000 acres – the size of Buffalo NY! Very wild, Very beautiful! We checked out several areas with the thought of coming back and staying there instead. The lodge at Red House Campground is rustic and neat but the “facilities” are better in the forest of Pa. Quaker Lake is kept full by an interesting round dam that let’s the excess water trickle down to the reservoir.
The birthday festival for Lucy was not such a much and what was there, you had to pay to go into. We think the “festivities” were more on Friday than Saturday. On up the road to Chautauqua Lake to find Midway State Park. Midway is the 16th oldest amusement park in the US. We found it by accident on a bike trip a lonnnnnnggg time ago! It still hasn’t changed much. Neat OLD rides that are perfect for little ones to ride. And there were plenty of Moms, Dads and Grandfolks showing the little ones a good time. Bumper cars, roller coasters, spin-arounds, toddler sized boats and even the little hand cranked cars that run on a tiny railroad track. Some of the little ones had to be helped those last few up hill feet! Oh yes – and the antique merry go round! Sadly tho, the roller rink/dance hall was no longer open to the public.
Rain? Yes, we’ve had rain! Saturday morning about 3am the fireworks started! The storm was like the grand finale that lasted about an hour. Saturday evening there was another shower that didn’t last long. We stayed high and mostly dry throughout both.
I have some good news and I have some bad news. The Good News - - - today is the anniversary of my retirement from State Farm Insurance! Thank You, Dana! I told everyone when I left that I planned to: 1. Fight with my husband, 2. Travel, and 3. Clean the closets. I have had one teeny fight with Harry; I have cleaned 2 closets and we have traveled thru 18 states in the last 12 months!
Friday was another pretty day for a boat ride-this time north into New York. The boat was loaded and we pushed off from the dock. Part way out of the bay, H remembered that he forgot the map so we returned to the dock. On our second attempt to head north, we again were almost out of the bay when the forward momentum of the boat slacked and the engine/outdrive began to whine.-high pitched and complaining. We flagged another boater who was heading for the dock and put the boat back on its trailer. It didn’t take him long to assess the problem but it cannot be fixed till we return home. The rest of that fine day was spent on shore – hiking, reading and I got lots of knitting done! Oh, yeah and he took me out for an ice cream cone for my birthday!
Saturday the 2nd we started off in the truck with the intent of attending the I Love Lucy Birthday Celebration in Jamestown NY. We were sidetracked just a few miles up the road by the Allegheny State Park, which is the New York connection to the Allegheny National Forest that is the Pennsylvania end of it all. There was a Tri-Athelon going on so the gates were open to all! And we went in!! The park is HUGE - - 65,000 acres – the size of Buffalo NY! Very wild, Very beautiful! We checked out several areas with the thought of coming back and staying there instead. The lodge at Red House Campground is rustic and neat but the “facilities” are better in the forest of Pa. Quaker Lake is kept full by an interesting round dam that let’s the excess water trickle down to the reservoir.
The birthday festival for Lucy was not such a much and what was there, you had to pay to go into. We think the “festivities” were more on Friday than Saturday. On up the road to Chautauqua Lake to find Midway State Park. Midway is the 16th oldest amusement park in the US. We found it by accident on a bike trip a lonnnnnnggg time ago! It still hasn’t changed much. Neat OLD rides that are perfect for little ones to ride. And there were plenty of Moms, Dads and Grandfolks showing the little ones a good time. Bumper cars, roller coasters, spin-arounds, toddler sized boats and even the little hand cranked cars that run on a tiny railroad track. Some of the little ones had to be helped those last few up hill feet! Oh yes – and the antique merry go round! Sadly tho, the roller rink/dance hall was no longer open to the public.
Rain? Yes, we’ve had rain! Saturday morning about 3am the fireworks started! The storm was like the grand finale that lasted about an hour. Saturday evening there was another shower that didn’t last long. We stayed high and mostly dry throughout both.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Good Morning! is what the crows meant to say at sun up but it came out their own echoing “Caw, Caw!!” The mist in this “holler” quickly receded back up into the top of the treeline and we got the boat ready to go explore! On the water by 9 30am and the sky was dark blue and totally clear. In this blog picture we are facing almost north and around that next curve is New York State! Next time the boat goes in the water, we’ll head that direction. We headed south this time and kept to the west side of the reservoir, checking out all the little bays and inlets with all their “no wake” bouys and pictureque campgrounds. No problem in finding the dam, which doesn’t look quite as impressive from our low vantage point today. We made it as far south as “Red Bridge”, which is a campground next to a bridge - - - a green bridge. A lovely deep bay was the perfect spot to anchor and enjoy our lunch before continuing up the east side. Gas at the marina was $4.69- not as bad as expected since gas in town yesterday was $3.99. Too bad we hadn’t remembered to take the gas can with us tho! Free wifi for the cost of his beer and my iced tea! But a great spot to send our last blog, get emails, stretch our legs, enjoy the panorama from the top of a hill and watch the children feed the gargantuan carp and multitude of ducks. The boat was back on it’s trailer and we were ready for “Happy Hour” by 4pm. Now it’s time to think about supper and the plans for Friday !
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday, July 25th, we finally put the “big boat”, Harry’s Citation, in the Maumee River to make sure it would run as it is the toy of choice for this next wandering of ours! All was well on the Maumee and we even saw 2 eagles soaring high over one of the islands! We brought the boat home and proceeded to get her and the tent packed for our venture to the Allegheny National Forest and Reservoir for a week of camping and exploring the wild and beautiful long curvy reservoir which runs from Pennsylvania up into New York.
Tuesday July 28th was another good day to be on the road and it was an easy trip to Pennsylvania via route 90, past Erie and on to New York and Jamestown. The rest area there was on a high hill overlooking the 16-mile long beautiful Chautauqua Lake, which we are hoping to come back to and spend some time on. Just past all the Jamestown exits we headed south, back into Pennsylvania and the Willow Bay Campground. The camp spots are nicely spaced and this campground is less than ½ full.
After we got the tent and screen room set up our first objective was to find the boat ramp – by walking thru the other 2 campground loops, thru a pine woodland area with a shaded path that lead thru rock strewn fern clumps growing by the bay. Supper done and we were ready to pack it in since there were NO TV stations and only 2 radio stations. The sun set and our eyes closed but then the clanging started at the dumpster down the way!!! As we found out the next day - - - - a bear had enjoyed his late evening snack and then distributed the remains all the way to the creek!
Weds July 29th brought gray skies and promise of rain so Harry flipped his dice and elected to go explore the area via truck! We found several other NF campgrounds, the beach area, a marina and the Kinzua Dam. We round about the back roads and stopped for ice cream and then found Bradford Pa but not the Wal-mart. Home for supper and our entertainment for the evening: watching “Frick and Frack” the new neighbors try and back in their 5th wheel trailer. Must have been their first time to back it in. The driver of the truck is old, walks with a cane and hunched over. His son didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. NOT A CLUE!!
Tuesday July 28th was another good day to be on the road and it was an easy trip to Pennsylvania via route 90, past Erie and on to New York and Jamestown. The rest area there was on a high hill overlooking the 16-mile long beautiful Chautauqua Lake, which we are hoping to come back to and spend some time on. Just past all the Jamestown exits we headed south, back into Pennsylvania and the Willow Bay Campground. The camp spots are nicely spaced and this campground is less than ½ full.
After we got the tent and screen room set up our first objective was to find the boat ramp – by walking thru the other 2 campground loops, thru a pine woodland area with a shaded path that lead thru rock strewn fern clumps growing by the bay. Supper done and we were ready to pack it in since there were NO TV stations and only 2 radio stations. The sun set and our eyes closed but then the clanging started at the dumpster down the way!!! As we found out the next day - - - - a bear had enjoyed his late evening snack and then distributed the remains all the way to the creek!
Weds July 29th brought gray skies and promise of rain so Harry flipped his dice and elected to go explore the area via truck! We found several other NF campgrounds, the beach area, a marina and the Kinzua Dam. We round about the back roads and stopped for ice cream and then found Bradford Pa but not the Wal-mart. Home for supper and our entertainment for the evening: watching “Frick and Frack” the new neighbors try and back in their 5th wheel trailer. Must have been their first time to back it in. The driver of the truck is old, walks with a cane and hunched over. His son didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. NOT A CLUE!!
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