Day Off

Haven’t even started work yet and we have a day off.  How cool is that?  We decided to check out Wilmington, about 40 miles from here.

First step was to find parking.  Downtown areas are not usually friendly to oversize vehicles, especially historic downtown areas. But I found some street parking several blocks away from the riverwalk and we unloaded the bikes and rode them in the remainder of the way.

We walked the riverwalk, strolled through the downtown Farmer’s Market, which really didn’t have a lot of stuff that came from a farm.  A lot of souvenirs, jewelry, and other artsy stuff.  The best part about it was probably the saxophone quartet playing at one end.

We also sought out something to eat.  Hopefully at a place that wasn’t part of a chain.  A couple places we stopped at had wait times, as a lot of other people had the same idea we did.  We ended up at Front Street Brewery, housed in a Civil War-era building. Great burger.

Directly across the Cape Fear River is the Battleship USS North Carolina.   Most of the ship is open to the public so we spent nearly three hours stepping through narrow hatches and navigating tight stairways to see what made this ship tick.

Unfortunately, one of the areas I wanted most to see, the engine room, was closed because a raccoon had somehow gotten down there and was spotted eating out of one of the trash cans this morning.  They closed off the area to prevent any human contact with this animal until they could catch it.

But it was interesting to crawl up inside the 16-inch gun turrets, see the powder magazines, the radio rooms and even the kitchen, baker’s room and laundry.  It gives you a new appreciation for the magnitude of running an operation like that with over 2000 people on board when you see a recipe for pie dough that calls for 200 pounds of flour and 3 1/2 buckets of water.

The brochures suggested two hours for a tour, we took almost three.  Well worth the time to see.

Since we were in a more major city, we took care of some laundry and grocery shopping on the way home as the town of Lake Waccamaw does not have a laundromat.

Arrival

We are now in place at our SOWER project.  Because we were camped overnight only a couple miles away, it didn’t take long to get here.  To avoid coming too early, we stopped first at Lake Waccamaw State Park, on the other side of the lake.

Lake Waccamaw is the largest natural lake in North Carolina.  As such, it deserves its own state park.  This state park has the features we have come to expect from NC state parks, including trails, campground, a body of water, and a large, fully staffed visitor center.  Oh, and yes... mosquitoes.  Little ones that swarm around the face and eyes.  We started hiking one of the trails but turned back when we started getting dive bombed by those little whiners.

We asked the rangers about kayaking in the area.  One of them printed out a whole guide on NC waterways.  Paper.  Music to Deb’s ears.  We’ll have to peruse that to find some good locations.

We then drove to the Boys and Girls Home of North Carolina, our home for the next three weeks.  We met Lee, their volunteer coordinator, and Ron, our SOWER group leader, who guided us to our parking place, in a row of RV hookup spots behind their exhibition barn.  Apparently, horses are a big thing here, and this enormous barn is used for horse shows and gatherings.  This section of the campus is called the “farm”, as it was once an operating farm.  Over the years they  eliminated all other farm animals and this became an equestrian farm.  This is owned by the Boys and Girls Home of North Carolina, but I’m a little fuzzy yet on how this is connected to troubled Boys and Girls.

Since we had a little time to ourselves, I launched the drone and took a few aerial pictures.  The exhibition barn is the large building, and our RV can be seen at the bottom center of the picture.  There’s an outdoor paddock and several long buildings with horse stalls (as always, clicking on the picture will enlarge it for more detail).

Towards the lake is the main campus, which is shown in the fly-over below. There’s housing for boys and girls, a chapel, dining hall, a small middle school and high school, and a bunch of other buildings.  Quite a nice campus sitting next to the lake there.

We took a bike ride, taking the road next to the lake in front of the campus here and following it until it ended at the dam, a distance of about seven miles.  In all, the lake is 24 miles around, and having been to the state park in one direction and the dam in the other direction, we have encircled nearly the entire lake.  Most of the road goes behind row of lakefront homes, some very large and fancy, and some older and smaller.  On the other side of the road is a large swamp, with bald cypress trees, lots of turtles sitting on fallen logs, and quite a few alligators.  So, just a narrow piece of land along this side of the lake, with just enough room for homes and the road.

Lee took us on a tour of the place and talked about various programs here.  We then met at Ron and Reenie’s RV for a spaghetti dinner.  After that, an introduction to some of the projects we will be working on.  Sounds like there’s a lot of stuff that needs painting. There’s three couples on this project, ourselves, Ron and Reenie, and Jim and Chris.  Looking forward to getting to know them over the next three weeks.

Carolina Bay

We learn something new every day.  Today’s thing is a Carolina bay which I have never heard of before now.  A Carolina bay is an oval or sometimes circular shallow depression concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard and seen in several states around here, although each state seems to have its own name for them.  In Maryland, they are called Maryland Basins. They can range anywhere from thirty feet across to three miles across and are elongated in a northwest-southwest direction.  Many of these have filled with water, becoming ponds and lakes. There are tens of thousands of these across the Southeast.  Our final destination for this trip, Lake Waccamaw, is a Carolina bay.

No one really knows how they were formed, although several theories exist, from meteor showers to prevalent wind patterns.

From our overnight in Greenville, we have just a few hours to Lake Waccamaw, so we didn’t need to push real hard today.  So we ambled down some minor roads and wound up at Jones Lake State Park, which contains one of these Carolina bays.  Another one can be seen in the distance.

These lakes tend to shrink over time, as sediment accumulates and  plants start to grow in the sediment.  The Bay Trail follows the original perimeter of the lake which has now shrunk to less than half its size.  We walked the Bay Trail around the lake but didn’t see the water hardly at all due to this shrinkage.  Rather, it resembled more of a jungle, with thick, impenetrable undergrowth and several types of trees all growing together.

But the one thing that made us walk a little faster was the lowly mosquito.  Or rather lots of them.  Four miles of being chased by Kamikaze mosquitoes made for a less-than-optimal hike.  We probably won’t be coming here again.

We drove through Elizabethtown on the way out of the state park.  We parked the RV and walked around downtown for a little while.  We happened to find a donut shop and bought a couple donuts.  We’ve struck out for much of this trip in finding good donuts.  There were four cop cars gathered around this shop so it looked promising.

The donut was OK, but loaded with too much icing.  So we won’t be going there again.  We also spotted a burger joint called Melvin’s which apparently has been around for many years and has quite a good reputation.  Having just had a donut, it was not really time for a burger.  Reading some reviews and descriptions online, we decided it was probably worth the half-hour trip at some point to try this out.

On into Whiteville where we had scheduled the Covid booster at a Walgreens.  We’ve attempted a couple times on this trip but no one does walk-ins and this was the first appointment we could make where we knew where we would be.

We almost didn’t succeed here either.  I knew we were in trouble when we drove in and I saw a long line of cars at the drive-up pharmacy window.  It wasn’t any better inside.  We were there at precisely 6:15pm for our 6:15 appointment and we waited in the line for a half hour just to be seen.  It was another half hour before we were finally ushered into the little room where we could receive the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the agreement for boondocking on private property stipulates that you arrive before dark, and it was completely dark when we got out of the Walgreens.  I messaged the host saying we were going to be a little late.

Then we couldn’t find the place.  After driving by the address according to the GPS a few times, there was nothing resembling the building in the picture.  I finally called the host and he talked me into the proper location, even driving out there to meet us to make sure we made it. So we probably broke every rule in the book for this stay, but we’re finally in place.  The Boys and Girls Camp of Lake Waccamaw, where we will be spending the next three weeks, is just down the street.

The red line has reached its destination.  It took us 2,290 miles and two and a half weeks to get here.  Google Maps says this is 908 miles from home with a drive time of 14 hours, 23 minutes.

Not quite a straight line, but, hey, this is how we roll. 

The Great Dismal Swamp

Now there’s a name to invoke the curiosity.  Not the kind of name you would expect attached to a state park or a National Historical Area.  Sounds more like something that came out of John Bunyan’s ​Pilgrim’s Progress​, right next to the Slough of Despond.

But it is an actual area.  Once 1.25 million acres in size, this swamp was shrunk considerably when ditches and canals were dug to drain the swamp and to claim the land for agriculture.  A 22-mile primary canal was dug through this area connecting the Albemarle Sound to the Chesapeake Bay and is part of the Intercostal Waterway.  Opened in 1805, it is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States.

This area is rich in history, particularly history connected with slavery.  The canals were dug primarily by enslaved people in very inhospitable conditions and the swamp was used frequently for hiding by escaped slaves, so much so that it is considered a stop on the Underground Railroad.

This was our first stop in our travels south today.  First, however, last night’s thunder caused by so many F-35 takeoffs died away at about 10pm, for which we were grateful.  Must be that fighter pilots need to sleep also.

We arrived at the Great Dismal Swamp at about 10am, planning to kayak the canal for a while.  If you’re looking for fast flow and exciting navigation in a kayak, you won’t find it here.  The canal has one curve in 22 miles and is otherwise straight for as far as the eye can see.  The bridge where we stopped can be moved out of the way for boat traffic to pass through, and the guy manning the booth appeared to be quite bored.  There was no boat traffic the entire time we were there.  The water is absolutely still.

But it was a pleasant paddle.  We spent a couple hours paddling a little over a mile north and then back again, and having lunch on the river.

One plant I’ve never seen before: the American beautyberry.  Probably because we have not done much travel during this time of the year.  This stuff is all over the place around here in the swampy areas.

About a half-hour farther down the road, we stopped at Merchants Millpond State Park.  Here is another name that really doesn’t give the right emotional feel for the park.  Rather than a pond, as the name implies, this was probably one of the nicest examples of a swamp that I have ever seen, with lots of big old-growth bald cypress trees, hanging Spanish moss, and shallow still water, creating what the brochures call an enchanted forest.  This would be the place to get out the canoe or kayak and wander around the old trees and hummocks.  It was getting a little late in the day so we hiked some of the shorter trails bordering the swamp, but this is definitely on our list to come back to next time we are in the area.

Looking back at it, we should have stayed longer.

Continuing south, we stopped to make dinner in the little town of Oak City, NC, population, 317.  Another town where a few homes and businesses surround a surprisingly large fire department building.  This town even has a town common, a large grassy area in the middle of town where outdoor events are held.  This was just across the street from the fire station.  We parked next to the town common and made dinner.

One successful experiment in the food department: meals in motion.  Deb made baked potatoes in the Instant Pot and we had them baking as we were traveling.  We stopped in a funeral home parking lot to prepare the potatoes and get them going.  Interesting funeral home, very small building, probably about half the size of my house, but there were probably 18 hearses parked around the back and both sides of it.  Must be they run an assembly line in there.  Or a disassembly line, as the case may be.

The potatoes were timed to be done when we arrived in Oak City, 25 minutes later.  They were delicious.  We demonstrated that we can successfully power the instant pot for that amount of time on the RV’s electrical system.  More meals in motion in the future.

We arrived in Greenville, NC, just before it got dark and did a little grocery shopping and got a Blizzard at DQ before stopping for the night.  So here we are at another Cracker Barrel.  When Deb called to make sure they allowed overnight parking, the manager, in response to her inquiry, told her, “Well, I won’t call to have you towed.”  I guess that’s permission enough.

Wind and Rain

I was looking forward to another night of sound sleep, aided by the sound of the surf and the sea breeze coming through the windows.  Last night was so nice, we opted in for another night at Assateague Island despite predictions of rain.

But it was not to be.

We had to close most of the windows because of the occasional rain so it was rather warm and humid in the RV. The wind that sprang up overnight became much stronger during the night, sweeping over the dunes and buffeting the RV broadside, shaking us continually.

The wind drove the misty rain sideways against the side of the RV, forcing closure of all the windows on that side.  It was a rather blustery night and I saw on the weather map that there were gale warnings for this area.  Time to move on.

We headed south again, not sure of our destination.  I drove and Deb pored over the maps and the iPad to figure out places to stop.  We’re kind-of making this all up as we go.

First Landing State Park in Virginia seemed like a good destination. There were opportunities for kayaking, hiking, biking, as long as the rain held off.  It didn’t look to hopeful.  The skies were heavy and dark and we were pelted on and off with rain. But we thought we would try it anyway and set our sights there.

The bridge spanning the Chesapeake Bay was quite a trip.  18 miles long, the longest bridge I have ever driven on.  And it dips below the surface of the Chesapeake Bay twice.  The tunnels are rather narrow, with a 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, one lane, each way.  And, knowing that there is a lot of water directly overhead adds to the white knuckle effect.  You just grip the wheel a little tighter and keep it centered in the narrow lane.

We stopped at First Landing State Park, which is right on the tip of the mainland where the Chesapeake Bay opens up into the Atlantic Ocean.  After asking at the visitor center about kayaking opportunities and not really getting a good answer, we drove to the 64th Avenue boat launch and launched the kayaks in the Broad Bay.  Supposedly, there’s a section of the bay where you can kayak among the dolphins, but that’s one thing we could not get a good answer to. So we paddled along the shoreline of the state park for a couple miles and paddled back.  We managed to see a golden eagle and an osprey and paddled around some oyster beds, although you couldn’t see anything under the water.

We drove along the main road in Virginia Beach.  Some of the stores are still open, but it is a resort town in the process of shutting down for the winter.   We found parking at the Virginia Beach Visitor Center, probably the only place that could handle an RV and didn’t charge for the parking, and walked the six blocks to the beach boardwalk.  We walked the boardwalk for a while, and took a selfie by the Neptune sculpture before turning around and walking back.  It was still trying to rain, usually just fine mist driven by the stiff wind, just enough to mess up one’s glasses.

We chose as our overnight spot a Cracker Barrel next to the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.  I hope we can sleep.  This place is very close to the Oceana Naval Air Station and there have been a lot of F-35 fighter jets taking off, sometimes one or two every five minutes, using full afterburners, roaring noisily into the sky.  I do hope they shut the flights down at a reasonable hour.

Two Weeks In

There’s something about ocean surf that helps a person sleep.  That and the steady breeze coming through all night at just the right temperature.  Slept like a baby.  We decided this was well worth doing again, so after breakfast we drove to the entry station and registered for another night.  There was some chance of rain, particularly overnight, but we would take our chances.

The rain held off the entire day, in fact the sun came out several times, and long enough to get us a full battery charge for tonight.  Just an all-around pleasant day for outdoor activities.

Another first for us: kayaking in salt marshes.  We drove into the National Seashore area, to the Bayside parking area, and launched the kayaks.  We were told the Old Ferry Landing was a better place for kayaking, but the road was blocked because of flooding caused by the recent storms.

We spent a couple hours paddling around the grassy marshes in the inner coastal waterway in Sinepuxent Bay. It was rather fun watching the wildlife from this perspective. Some of the shore birds would allow you to get pretty close before taking off.

We didn’t pack a lunch so we had to turn back when lunchtime rolled around.  I could easily have spent more time paddling these waters.

After having lunch in the Bayside parking lot, we drove to the day use area and unloaded the bikes.  Bikes are only allowed on the paved roads here, but there’s enough for several miles worth of biking.  We were also getting in as much outdoor activity as we could before any rain started.

At the end of the National Seashore area is a trail that leads a little farther south.  We parked the bikes and walked this trail.  The Life of the Dunes trail follows the old Baltimore Boulevard, a 15-mile planned development started in the 1950’s.  After laying an asphalt main road and putting up 130 signs for future side streets, the whole area was damaged by the nor’easter Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962. This stopped the development and this area became a National Seashore in 1965.  The remnants of the road are now used by the gulls as a hard surface to drop and crack clams.

We also biked over the bike bridge to the mainland. Kind of nice, having a bridge all to ourselves, while all the cars crossed on a different bridge. 

We did have to leave the trail a couple times, as the horses of the island were grazing either on or right next to the trail.  Approach within 40 feet and you could get in trouble from the park rangers.

After making dinner at our campsite, we walked the beach for a while, enjoying the temperatures and the sound of the surf.  Much calmer than yesterday.  We stood and watched the sandpipers for a while.  Fascinating watching them running along the edge of the surf, searching for their food. They always seem to avoid getting bowled over by the water but are always right next to it.

Today marks two weeks that we have been on the road.  We’ve clocked 1776 miles, and covered six states and one province.  And the red line continues to snake its way across the map.

Running from the Rain

I never should have crossed that bridge.

The Delaware Memorial Bridge connects New Castle, Delaware to Pennsville, New Jersey.  We crossed the bridge to eat at the Cracker Barrel restaurant and to camp out in their parking lot overnight.  Coming back across this morning, when I drove through the toll both, the sign indicated that the toll was not paid.  There should be plenty in the account; I’ll sort this out later.

Now that it’s later, I’m figuring out what went on.  Two days ago we made two trips across the I-80 toll bridge at Delaware Water Gap. The first toll was $9.00, the second was $22.50.  Looking up the rates, I determined that they had mis-charged me the second time, and overdrawn the account.  When I came over the bridge this morning, it couldn’t be paid.

Looking it up on the Delaware website, there is no way to pay the toll online unless you have a toll violation number, which you don’t get until you receive the violation in the mail, complete with a penalty charge.

So I will have to call into the labyrinth of the Delaware Department of Transportation on Monday to see if I can sort this all out.

That is shaping up to be one expensive meal.

The rest of the day was not as frustrating as this.  We drove into New Castle after crossing the expensive bridge, as Deb wanted to see New Castle, which is a National Historic Landmark as it contains one of the highest concentrations of historic buildings with some of them built in the 1600’s.  I dutifully drove through town, which, being that old, has very narrow streets.  I felt like I was driving a barge.  Fortunately, being a rainy Sunday morning, there was not a lot of traffic, so I didn’t get in the way of too many other cars.  We drove through town, looking for a place to park, finally following signs for bus parking to the edge of town.  It was pouring buckets at this time, so walking was out.  We sat in the RV and streamed our church service.

Once this was done, we drove back through town.  One street was made of stones.  Not gravel, not pavers, but large whole stones the size of grapefruits and larger, which made it extremely bumpy.  I had to drive very slow to keep the RV from shaking itself apart.

Since it was still raining, we continued south on State Route 9.  Looking at the weather map, I figured we could skirt the front edge of Tropical Storm Ophelia, which was moving up through Virginia to the west of us at this time.  Perhaps we could get far enough south of the storm to leave the rain behind.

Seems like we are always running from the weather.

We stopped in the tiny town of Leipsic, which appeared to be just a few buildings and a surprisingly large volunteer fire department building.  We made lunch in their parking lot.  Although much of the route goes through corn and soybean fields, the building next door spoke to the proximity to the ocean, with lots of floats and crab cages piled up behind it.

As evidence of the recent storm, a couple places on the road had signs saying “Water Over Road”, and one section was even partially blocked, saying the road was flooded.  I drove cautiously past the barricade and, while there were a couple puddles on the road, the water had largely receded.   They just had not taken the signs down yet.

The pleasantness of this route vanished when it went through a couple beach towns, particularly Ocean City. High-rise resorts block the view of the ocean to the left, and numerous businesses, many of them surf-related, line the street to the right.  It reminded me of Panama City or Daytona Beach and the going was slow, even on a gloomy Sunday afternoon with light traffic, because of the multitude of traffic lights.  I was glad to finally be done with that stretch.

We arrived at Assateague Island, our destination for the day and made a stop at the visitor center. We took a short hike to the Rackliffe House, which was constructed in the 1740’s.

I noticed some fluid dribbling from the RV and figured out that the bottle of chemical treatment for the blackwater tank had chafed from all the movement and was leaking into the compartment and then outside.  So we’ve been treating the roadway for a couple hundred miles or so.  Just one of those wonky things that goes wrong on a trip like this.

Our campsite in Loop E of the State Park Campground is right next to the dune separating the campground from the ocean. From here we can hear the roar of the surf and feel the breeze off the ocean.  Should be a great night for sleeping.

Walking through the campground, we could see and hear the wild horses grazing by some of the campsites.  We’ve also seen a deer and Deb almost tripped over a Black Snake.

If the weather holds, we may stay for another night.  The intercostal waterway is supposed to be great for kayaking.

Selfie by the Atlantic Ocean

Rainy Day Activities

It rained much of the night last night and quite a bit of today.  Looks like outside actives will not be great, so today was a day to take care of some of the more mundane but still necessary things.  First order of business: laundry.   After nearly two weeks the laundry bag was full and socks were running low.

We found a laundromat in Pottstown, not too far away from where we camped overnight.  It was probably one of the nicest laundromats I have been in.  And not very busy.  We stripped the linens off the bed, collected all the clothing, and ran everything in, getting a shower ourselves in the pouring rain.  We used the wait time to catch up on some emails and Bible study.

Just across the street was an Aldi grocery store and a Walmart.  We resupplied ourselves with groceries and even got a half gallon of ice cream since there was now a little room in the freezer.

Valley Forge near Philadelphia was not too far away.  Its exhibits are mostly outdoors, but we decided to take a crack at it anyway.

On the way, Deb spotted the Philadelphia Premium Outlets and we turned in there to check it out.  There was also a Costco located right next door.  We went into the Costco to see if they had any good samples and to inquire about a flu shot.  We managed to snag a flu shot there--check that item off the list--but the food samples were rather disappointing.  I guess we’ll actually have to make a lunch.

Costco was unbelievably busy.  It seems like any Costco we visit is super busy.  I probably should buy stock in the company.  I felt a little conspicuous as I was taking four parking spaces in the absolutely full parking lot but we weren’t there long.

One of the things we do on these trips is try to find good barbecue sauce.  We’ve stopped at several places over the years that have been recommended by a friend from church who smokes a lot of meat.  We also happened upon a store a couple years ago that deals exclusively in sauces.  This store, the Pepper Palace, is often located in outlet malls and this mall had the store.  We scored a few bottles of our favorite sauce, to be used the next time a slab of meat comes off the smoker.  Honey Chipotle Rum.  Mountain Q Hickory Mild.  Looking forward to slathering some of that on smoked meat.

We spent most of the afternoon at Valley Forge.  Quite amazing that the fledgling US Army survived the winters there and managed to push back the British during the Revolutionary War.  We saw the 1778 version of the Pentagon, where George Washington planned and led the war effort at Valley Forge, a rather unassuming stone house that he rented from Mr Potts.

The soldiers lived in little log huts.  There were thousands of these built by the soldiers themselves under the direction of General Washington.  A few of them still remain on the grounds, a silent testament to a difficult but pivotal time in our nation's history.

The rain held off for much of this, for which we were grateful.  After driving quite a bit of the auto interpretive tour through the grounds, we again headed south and ended up at a Cracker Barrel just across the Delaware River from Wilmington, Delaware.  We had a leisurely dinner in the restaurant, and are now settled for the night in their back parking lot.

The red line is getting longer and now includes two states that I have never been in: New Jersey and Delaware.

Kayaking the Delaware

So now we have a new wrinkle in our travels.  Tropical Storm Ophelia formed this afternoon and quickly strengthened close to hurricane strength. This storm is expected to drench the East Coast this weekend, making landfall tomorrow on the North Carolina coast, and its effects will be seen all the way up into Pennsylvania.  Which is where we are right now.  I superimposed our approximate route for the next week, ending in Wacamaw Lake, North Carolina a week from today, and it slices this hurricane zone right in half.  Could be an interesting few days.

We’ve been watching the weather forecasts since it is supposed to rain starting tonight for a few days.  Looks like some of our outdoor activities may be curtailed temporarily.  Tomorrow we’ll probably go into town somewhere to load up on supplies and to find a laundromat, as the laundry bag is getting full.

Since today was our last nice day for a while, we decided to kayak the Delaware River. We chose Smithfield Beach as the starting point and the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center as the takeout point, for a distance of about 7 miles.  It took a bit to figure out the logistics of this since the starting and ending points were on the opposite side of the Delaware River and the only crossing was the Interstate 80 bridge.  But I discovered that the Appalachian Trail crosses the river on this same bridge, so there is a pedestrian lane for all the hikers.

So we spotted a bike at the visitor center and drove to Smithfield Beach.  We were told that, on summer weekends, this is an enormously popular starting point, and the parking lot fills up by 10am.  Today however, there were all of four cars in the parking lot, and that included the truck and trailer for the guys mowing the lawn.  The parking lot will fit somewhere around 350 cars.

We put in at about 10am and had the river mostly to ourselves.

Looking at the Delaware River from our campsite last night, I got the feeling that it was a lot like the Grand River back home:  wide and slow.  The water appeared to drift lazily along with barely perceptible movement.  After we were on the water, however, we realized that this river may be wide, but it is not slow.  The size of the river makes it seem slow, but looking at the bottom through the water, we could see the rocks and plants moving by us at a surprising clip, and I measured the speed without any paddling at 3 miles per hour.  Pretty good for a wide and slow river.  One section was a bit more swift, with the ripples and currents to match, and it registered 8 miles per hour, which seems like rocket speed in a kayak.

It was a beautiful day for a paddle, and before we knew it, nearly 2.5 hours had passed and the takeout point was upon us.  We beached the kayaks, ate lunch, and I took off on the bicycle to get the RV.

I guess I can say I hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail on this trip.  However, it was the pedestrian lane on the Interstate 80 bridge, and I was separated from the trucks barreling by by an eight-inch thick concrete barrier, only about two feet tall.  So this really didn’t give a good representative feel for the AT.  The bridge is nearly a quarter mile long, and you are required to walk your bike, so I was up close and personal with the trucks for some time.

It took over an hour to retrieve the RV, 7.7 miles by bicycle, and 18 miles back by RV, mostly through twisty turny roads.  So it was mid afternoon by the time we had everything loaded up and ready to go again.  We drove south for a half hour, then stopped at the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, a park with a bunch of trails that appears to be very popular with runners.  We hiked a couple miles of trails, just to stretch our legs, then headed south again.

Deb is always looking for interesting things to do.  One thing she ran into was a dinner cruise on the Erie Canal, on a boat pulled along by mules.  What a gas that would be.  Unfortunately, their web site said that, due to circumstances beyond their control, all dinner cruises for this weekend were cancelled.  We seem to have a lot of that on this trip.  Being at a spot on the very day it is closed.

We also thought walking on the Hoover Mason Trestle in downtown Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania, which is a former narrow gauge elevated railroad that carried iron ore over the blast furnaces in town.  Many of the rusted furnaces still stand, so it’s kind of an overhead view of history from the railroad turned walkway.  However, at 4pm on Friday afternoon, traffic was slowing down all over the place, and the thought of piloting an RV into downtown in that mess was not appealing, so we continued to our evening destination.  These cool things will just be added to the list of what to do if/when we return here.

Our destination for the evening was a Boondocker’s Welcome host in Pottstown, PA.  It’s really hilly here and we are perched next to a barn at the top of a hill.  Our host gave us instructions on how to avoid the super steep hill and the wonky turns suggested by Google Maps, which we appreciated.  They were rather scary when we first drove in here.  We used these instructions when we went out a little later this evening for ice cream in downtown Pottstown.

Family Wealth

The Catskills area is another place that is definitely on the return list.  Lots of places to see, to hike, to camp. This trip is shaping up to be sort-of a survey of a bunch of different areas to see what would be worth a return trip with more time in just that area.  The Adirondacks is a definite return-to.  Likewise, the Catskills.  We considered taking another day here but we are due in Lake Wacamaw, North Carolina next Friday, and the way we travel, even that could be somewhat of a stretch.  So we started south.

The first stop (and, as it turns out, the only stop) today was the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, New York.  This estate is now under the management of the National Park Service so it’s possible to get a tour of the mansion and walk the grounds for free, if you have a National Park Pass.  It was quite fascinating to learn about his family and how they managed (and mis-managed) their fortune.  This estate was built by the grandson of the original Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built his wealth in the transportation business: steamboats and ferries.

Someone close to the family captured the pattern of family wealth thusly:
The first generation creates wealth.
The second generation doubles it.
The third generation spends it.

Of the grandsons, only Frederick, who built this estate, bucked this trend.  All of the Frederick’s brothers and their families spent their inherited fortunes in opulent living during the gilded age, building lavish mansions, throwing expensive parties, and spending like there was no tomorrow.

Then the United States implemented a property tax.  And an inheritance tax.  And an income tax.  That along with the spending drained their wealth until there was nothing left.

Frederick continued to develop the businesses he inherited and so avoided the fate of his brothers.  However, the new taxes forced him to sell four of his other mansions, and he kept this one because it was his wife’s favorite.  When he died, his niece inherited it and she sold it to the National Park Service for a dollar because she didn’t want it and couldn’t sell it to anyone else.

Deb was reading about the families when we were driving south.  Also fascinating as there was a lot of dysfunction.

This place is on 700 acres of prime real estate on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River.  We also strolled the Italian gardens on the grounds.  A bit past peak flower season, especially for the roses, but nonetheless very pretty.

Definitely well worth seeing, if you get to that area.

We decided to overnight in the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area, around 3 hours southwest. Google Maps plotted the route through the outskirts of New York City, something I had no desire of attempting, particularly since we would be entering that area around the start of rush hour.  So we vectored off of I-87 on a minor road, heading west, leaving most of the traffic behind.

At one point, we drove through an area that looked exactly like the low muck land of Hudsonville.  One field even had rows of onions being harvested, and lots of other crops around here look like they could end up on a salad.  Deb looked it up and discovered that this area was settled by the Dutch, who drained the bogs and swamps to create some of the richest farmland in the country.  Leave it to the Dutch to recover land from water.  This area is deeded such that it cannot be developed.  Hudsonville could learn a thing or two.  A lot of prime muck land in Hudsonville is being eaten up by condo developments.

After many segments of minor roads, we arrived at the south end of Delaware Gap and descended to the river’s edge on the main road towards the campground.  The next 11 miles of road was probably some of the worst roads I have driven in a long time.  Wheel-eating potholes, patches upon patches; it became an obstacle course to avoid the potholes.  Good thing there was no traffic as I was using the entire road for this exercise.  I heard things rattling that I didn’t even know I had.

It was blessedly quiet when we finally shut it off in the nearly-empty campground along the Delaware River.  We got out the grill and grilled some salmon, had some corn that we picked up earlier today at a roadside stand, some rice pilaf, and a big slice of cantaloupe.  For having such a small galley kitchen, Deb does a great job of making a good meal.

Tomorrow we may try some kayaking on the Delaware River.

Doing the Catskills

Yesterday was an exercise in frustration trying to access the Internet from our campsite.  Cell service was exactly zero and I managed to get just enough occasionally with a signal booster to upload just the text of yesterday’s journal.  I finished the pictures today.  We got a little smarter today.  We stopped in the visitor center parking lot on the way back to the campground and used the Super Sniffer to glom onto their WiFi.  Works much better.

Stopped by the visitor center this morning to plan the day since the lack of Internet last night prevented us from doing it then.  We talked to the  ranger there who was super helpful and enthusiastic.  He was a treasure trove of information about the hiking. That all made sense when he told us he hiked half of the Appalachian Trail last year.  *Of course.  This dude is a born hiker.*

Apparently, hiking to fire towers is a thing out here.  There are six fire towers open to the public, with varying hiking distances to get there and something called the “fire tower challenge”, where you hike to all of them.  Many of the trails were many miles long, so we decided we were not doing the fire tower challenge.

There was a replica fire tower directly behind the visitor center, so we got our fire tower fix by climbing this one.

The most popular place in the area is Kaaterskill Falls, a 290-foot falls that is the highest cascading waterfall in the state.  We figured we would do this today, in the middle of the week and middle of the day to avoid weekend and evening traffic.

Short but steep hike to the bottom of the falls, the trail includes 181 stone steps to the bottom. Perfect for tiring out the legs.

We had lunch below the lower portion of the falls, sitting on the rocks jumbled up there.  Several others had the same idea.

Beautiful falls, I can see why it is a favorite.

The same trail branches out and goes along an escarpment for several miles, and one attraction is an overlook called Inspiration Point, about 1.5 miles farther down the trail.  We hiked this one also.  We were warned at the visitor center that this would be a scramble over boulders and it was, so it took quite a while.  A large rocky point offered a commanding view of the narrow valley below and the ridge on the far side.  Well worth the scramble.

Deb wanted to take my picture as I was sitting on the rock eating an apple.  “Move a little closer to the edge so I can get a good picture,” she told me.

Me: “Just a reminder, we don’t have any life insurance.”

Deb: “Ok, stay where you are.  I’ll just take the picture.

Hmmm, what does that mean?

Coming out of there, we decided to bike the Ashokan Rail Trail.  If our legs get too tired, we can just let the electric bikes do most of the work.

One of the advantages of being a turtle (carrying your house on your back), is that everything is always with you.  We parked in the trailhead parking lot and made dinner right there. No need to go back to the campsite or anything.  Then we rode the trail along the Ashokan Reservoir for 10 miles and then back.

The Ashokan Reservoir was made in the early 1900’s to help supply the water needs for New York City.  10,000 acres were taken over, mostly by eminent domain, and then flooded to create the reservoir, displacing several towns and hundreds of homes, churches, businesses, cemeteries, and the like.  This trail is a former railroad that ran along the reservoir.  While it is close, the many trees by the side of the path block the view of the water for the entire length except for just a few spots.  It was a beautiful setting, with the mountains in the background.