June2020

Our first stop was Little Talbot Island bordered by the Atlantic and the St. John's River. It is directly across from Naval Station Mayport.

It is a beautiful state park with a lot of mature trees.

Like most Florida State parks, the sites are wide and somewhat isolated. However, the sites are not gravel, just sand and dirt, so it gets messy when it rains, which we were lucky in that it did't.

The beach is wide and we almost had it to ourselves.

Sea Oat covered dunes

and turtle nesting sites.

It was a little overcast the second day but we saw a ghost cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic

and a carrier at Naval Station Mayport.

We drove up to American Beach on Amelia Island where dogs are allowed on the sand. Luna really wanted to be let loose so she could run.

On the river side of the campground were some mud flats with thousands of little sand crabs running about at sundown.

They were moving from their holes in the mud to the security of the roots of a fallen tree

Luna had never seen sand crabs and went crazy trying to catch one.

And of course a fine sunset.

Next stop was Skidaway Island State Park near Savannah. Again, many majestic old oaks.

Deer wandered carefree in the park.

Our firewood was soaked during one of the rain storms and another camper brought us some dry wood. His son is an EE Junior at GT.

Another evening dinner outside under Luna's careful eye.

Near the campground is the Wormsloe Historic Site, once the colonial estate of Noble Jones.

A grand entrance to the plantation that looks like something out of Forrest Gump with a road that was last graded in 1773.

Noble Jones came to Georgia with James Oglethorpe in 1733 with the idea of creating a Utopia. There were to be no slaves as Oglethorpe believed that having slaves made men lazy.

His tabby house was built in 1745

and parts still remain.

The plantation is bordered by the Shipyard Creek. If you stand on the shore and listen carefully you can hear a popping sound like a little firecracker. It is the snapping or “pistol” shrimp with a disproportionately large claw, pistol-like feature with a “hammer” that snaps and creates a cavitation that is loud enough to stun their prey.

We ventured into Savannah for lunch and found out that one of our favorite Irish Pubs had permanently closed in January. It was where everyone gathered for Harrisons' wedding.

The last time we were in Savannah the west end of the riverfront was a junk area with an old power plant. The plant is gone and the building has been rebuilt.

It now is a Marriott, a bar and offices.

Our next campground was Petersburg, the largest Corps campground on the 71,000 acre Strom Thurmond Lake.

Like most Corps of Engineers campgrounds, almost every site is on a lake

with fantastic sunsets. Someday we are going to get a picture of a sunrise.

For entertainment we went to nearby Harlem, GA to visit the Laurel and Hardy Museum.

Oliver Hardy was born in Harlem

and the museum has some interesting memorabilia.

Next we found in a residential area a large garage in a backyard that was the home of the Fine Mess Old Car Museum

Gary Russeth was the owner and he has built numerous vehicles out of wood. Including the engines and tires.

He is really a nice man and took real pride in showing us creations.

Including a model of the Little General

with all the controls made from wood.

Back at the campsite Bobbi was able to try out her swing chair

One final sunset before we move to the next campground.

After Petersburg, we went 11 miles around to the South Carolina side of Strom Thurmond Lake for the Modoc Corps of Engineers campground near Appling, GA.

With lots of trees and a super view of the lake, it's probably our favorite of all COE campgrounds so far.

And with nice bike trails.

A good place to relax

and watch a storm in front of the sun

We have stayed several times at Coneross COE and always enjoyed Lake Hartwell.

Micah, Hiro, Yoshi and Jasmine were able to join us.

Hiro enjoyed Bobbi's swing chair

and we enjoyed hamburgers and corn from the grill

but the highlight was the carrot cupcakes Hiro brought.

Yoshi fished with his stick

and Micah with his hand crafted flies.

The biggest catch of the day was a sand fish that was happy when Micah put it back in the water.

We visited the Clemson Botanical Garden and the first thing we saw was a 6 foot black snake. I think it was the biggest snake Yoshi had seen to date.

There was a large pond

The evening ended with fun around the campfire enjoying s’mores.

Micah had brought a couple of tube floats and he and Yoshi decided to float from our campsite about a half mile around to the campground "beach"

We walked along the road and were glad to see they made it.

We have seen many fine sunsets and Bobbi finally got up and photographed a sunrise.

The next morning we were on the move again and Bobbi was emphatic about her morning country ham and biscuit. But our RV is too tall for the drive-thru so, because I love her, I stood in line between a SUV and a Jeep.

Next was 2 nights at Bandits Roost COE near Wilkesboro, NC.

It had a lot of bike trails

with a diverse tree foliage.

Another evening picnic where Luna again tried the "poor me" beg.

Of course a memorable sunset.

There was a dock on the campground with a lot of boating activity.

Since we were in North Carolina, the COE felt it was necessary to point out that the road ended in the water.

Luna made friends with two interesting little girls. They are something else and will make some husbands extremely happy or very stressed.

Our next stop was a KOA near Lynchburg, VA.

Our site was close to others and the only view was watching RVs come and go but it was level with full gravel and no dirt.

There were a lot of activities for kids, including "mining" for precious stones.

Bobbi has no comment.

Great Dog Park for Luna to burn off some energy.

In Lynchburg there is a nice 9 mile bike path on an old RR grade.

Until the path reaches downtown, there are shaded views

and a small waterfall.

Once downtown the path went through a former industrial area that is being revitalized with museums, sculptures and resturants.

including one of the Virginia LOVE pieces.

No visit to the area would be complete without a visit to Appomattox Court House which we learned isn't a court house but the name of the town.

Lee's surrender to Grant at McLellan's house wasn't the end of the war, but just the surrender of the Army of Virginia. There were several other armies under different generals that took several months and the CSS Shenandoah warship didn't give up until November.

Nearby was the Civil War Museum with many artifacts presented in a balanced manner.

Next stop was Winchester, Virginia and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

There were many displays of the history of the area, including period furniture, farm tools, etc. But the most interesting was an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution, "Things Come Apart". The artist had photographed and disassembled many items from electronics to a small airplane.

An accordion with 1,465 parts

and a bicycle with 893 parts to name just a few.

The Museum sits on land that Winchester founder James Wood surveyed, claimed, and settled in 1735. The oldest portions of the house were built by Wood's son Robert in 1794.

In addition to beautiful gardens, the grounds have a traveling display of large wooden bugs.

Our next stop was three days at Loyalhanna Dam COE which is 20 miles east of Pittsburgh. While we were at the campground there were only 3 RVs on about 100 sites and one was the Camp Host. As we walked around we noticed that most of the sites were reserved from July 3rd to the 5th. Evidently, the camp and boat launch facilities are be very popular for the July 4th weekend.

The highlight of our stay was the Carnegie Science Center in downtown Pittsburgh. It was 4 floors of very interesting themes.

One floor's theme was robots with some famous media robots.

You could select a famous song or quote and

a robot would sing with great face and hand expression.

A robot that could shoot a basketball, made most shots and many interactive displays such as playing air hockey against a robot. Very hard to win.

A huge miniature village with many trains and facets of life in Pennsylvania.

Including a Frank Lloyd Wright house called The Falls.

with 22,000 colored cotton swaps as fans.

We did a self COVIS forehead temperature check and all seemed OK.

For the July 4th weekend we stayed at Pymatuning Lake State Park near Andover, Ohio. Over 300 sites were mostly filled with large families and pontoon boats.

Not having a boat or a bunch of kids, there wasn't much to do at the campground so we caught up on Foyle's War.

Nearby on the lake is a large gathering of duck and carps. For $1.00 you can buy a loaf of stale bread for tossing in the water.

Watching 50+ pound carps fight over a slice of bread reminded us of dinner when the boys were young and still at home.

A section of the park, including a rest room, was fenced off because of the habitat of a bald eagle.

Somewhat hard to see but in the middle of the picture is where we saw him flying to twice.

Next was Niagara Falls. We have visited the falls several times from the Canadian side but, since the border with Canada is still closed, we remained on the USA side.

Near Goat Island is Luna Island and so she was anxious to see her namesake.

She thought the island lacked chipmunks and squirrels but liked the view.

For me the highlight was a statue of Nikolas Tesla who proved the technical superiority of AC versus Edison's DC with the Niagara Power project.

We previously had heard that the view of the Falls was better on the Canadian side which frankly we found true.

Sadly, there was a stark contrast between what we have seen on the Canadian side and the City of Niagara Falls which is a poster child for a decaying rust belt city. There are so many old brick buildings that should be hotels, restaurants, mixed use apartments but remain abandoned.

We did find an outdoor ArtPark with some interesting items

including a wood peanut chair

and a quiet spot for Bobbi to take part in a Historical Society meeting with "Go to Meeting"

Next was Mt Morris, NY where our main reason for visiting is the Letchworth State Park.

It is 14,000 acres and called the Grand Canyon of the East. In 2015 USA Today had a contest and it was voted America’s Top State Park.

In the park is the 1880 Glen Iris Inn, the former home of William Letchworth who donated the land for the park.

We, including Luna, had a great outdoor lunch and a decadent dessert.

There are three falls in the park, Lower, Middle and Upper.

The Lower and Middle are impressive

but as expected the Upper Falls was the best.

When we arrived at the campground, included with the usual material, was a flyer about camp festivities Saturday afternoon.

Billed as "guests vs staff" we assumed it was volleyball or something like that in the pool. Actually, it was the staff on a wagon with water balloons and cannons

versus the guests along the route who were also armed with balloons and various water propelling devices.

Everyone got into the action

including some who should have known better.

Ithaca is situated at the bottom of Cayuga Lake, one of the eleven Finger Lakes. Formed several million years ago by moving glaciers, the lakes are north flowing and very deep, Cayuga is over 400 feet. Because of how they were formed there are many gorges in the lakes.

There are so many gorges in Ithaca that the city's tagline is "Ithaca is Gorges". The gorges range from 1/2 mile to over 7 miles, the longer ones with trails that circle the gorge.

Some had walkover bridges so you can view up and down the gorge.

Even a small working hydro plant.

This one was a part of the Cornell campus.

The trails are maintained by workers who carry in the replacement 4"x4" posts for repair of some stairs.

Some of the trails had stone walled paths there were built by the CCC in the late 1930s.

And some have steps with no wall.

Luna tried exploring a small crevice and discovered she couldn't turn around and finally figured she needed to back out.

Some of the falls were small

and others pretty good size.

A few of the paths were away from the gorge and easy to hike. Except the one that had 274 steep steps at the end to get back on the upper level.

Back in downtown there is a nice 8 mile paved bike trail that forms a U around the lower end of Lake Cayuga.

As usual people like Luna's ride.

In Lake Placid we stayed at a very nice KOA with lots of trees, swimming pool, playgrounds and a diner that served breakfast, lunch or dinner and they would even deliver to your site via golf cart. In the evening there was pizza and ice cream.

It had something everyone, even a chipmunk for Luna.

Nearby was 4,867 feet high Whiteface Mountain with a highway built to the top that was completed in 1935.

The lower section of the road consisted of severe switchbacks

with the upper section carved out of the rock. Along the road are numerous pullouts that have grand vistas of the Adirondack Park, Lake Placid & Lake Champlain. Very impressive.

At the top is the "Castle" that normally serves lunch and snacks but it was closed due to the virus.

The views from the top are simply stunning.

A picture doesn’t do the beauty justice.

On a clear day, which you can tell from the dark clouds the day we were there wasn't, you can see Montreal.

In town we found an old fashion A&W with outside seating. Luna wasn't sure what to make of the bear

but we had no trouble with what to order.

Lake Placid is the training ground for the US Olympic ski team but the slopes looked a little strange without snow.

Around the area we found many small quaint towns that are quintessential New England.

New York does have a good system of bike trails and in downtown Ticonderoga we found a tire repair station with air and various tools for removing and patching a tire.

Near Ticonderoga is Mount Defiance, a moderate height mountain that provided a good observation view of the lake.

When enemy ships were sighted coming into the lake, a warning was sent to Fort Ticonderoga at the base of the mountain.

At Point Au Roche State Park we found a wooded bike trail.

The bike trail ended at a beach and Luna thought the people were nuts to go in the cold water.

And they were not maintaining proper social distance.

The KOA is on a huge tract of land, much of it undeveloped except for some trails.

It is bordered on one side by the Ausable River with small rapids that

create a swimming pool for the brave at heart to dive into. We asked one of the teenagers about the water temperature and she said "not cold". Not sure from our perspective what that means but I suspect it would be cold.

Winhall Brook is a Corps Of Engineers campground located in the lower middle of Vermont.

It has broad grassy meadows surrounded by heavily wooded areas.

Luna liked to lay and roll in the grass.

The highlight of the visit was The Vermont General Store. Decades ago Bobbi ordered from them and it was interesting to browse through the store. It is a cross between Mast General Store and LL Bean.

The town had the typical New England buildings with a town square from the early 1800's.

On one of the roads we noticed a sign for "Coleman Maple Syrup". That said said 0.7 miles up somewhat of a road but no activity. Evidently they only sell during the syrup season.

Of interest, may of the fields had long stone walls reminiscent of Ireland and Scotland.

The bridge to the campground was narrow

but with Luan's help I was able to avoid hitting the sides.

We were able to find a RV campground in Littleton, MA about 30 minutes from Flick and Sandie.

Instead of playing Boston tourists we decided the prudent activity would be to spend time together catching up, playing board games we hadn't thought about in 30 years and of course eating.

The only "tourist" activity was watching a parade of wild turkeys transverse their yard in the evening. Luna wasn't sure what they were.

Near Washington D.C. is the Lake Fairfax County park. It has picnic tables, a nice water park for the children (closed due to virus), skate board park, fishing area, nice trails for cyclists, BBQ area, football fields, volleyball fields, hiking and of a campground. The campsites only had electricity but we were able to fill our freash water holding tank on the way in so no problem.

The best part of the park is that it is between the homes of special long term (not OLD) friends from Elementary school days, C.F. & MaryJane (Thomas) Snyder and Cheryl (Carder) Mulvhill.

We didn't venture into the District but instead visited some historic nearby towns

And multiple huge data centers full of servers and storage for various cloud services.

One evening we had dinner at Cheryl's and Bobbi & I were concerned about the interaction between her two cats and Luna.

As it turned out they basically didn't pay much attention to each other after a few perfunctory nose sniffs.

Another fine meal with friends.

Luna made a new friend.

Bob forgave Cherly for all the mean things she has said about him over the past 58 years.

It was really a geat time with

not 'old friends' but long term friends.

After a couple of great days with our friends in D.C., we headed to a couple of days relaxing at Rudds Creek,

a Corps of Engineers campground on the 50,000 acre John H. Kerr Reservoir.

We grilled some ribs

and checked out a tugboat that was used by the Corps during construction.

There is a medium size hydro plant but the visitor center was closed.

Our last stop was a couple of nights at a nondescript camp near Yemassee,SC. We drove into Beaufort which we hadn't visited for several decades. The downtown area along the river is very much alive and we found a resturant where we could eat outside and maintain social distance.

The resturant was dog friendly including a canine menu.

Bob had a fantastic CSBLT sandwitch (Crab, Shrimp, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato).

There is a nice park along the river with a section detailing the history of Beaufort.