Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Start of Our Travels on Way to Newfoundland

Stratford Point Lighthouse - In Stratford, Connecticut on the western side of the mouth of the Housatonic River which flows into Long Island Sound

We spent the winter months in the Texas area mostly in the Houston/Galveston area – with a trip (in a rental car) to the Denver area over Christmas to be with our son and his wife, and Jan’s brothers.  Our trip to Denver was “a little exciting” when we drove north of Amarillo thru Oklahoma and southeastern Colorado where a blizzard had just come thru the day before.  We were on one of the few open main roads and were stuck for hours in traffic stacked up miles behind an accident.  Night came upon us and the melted snow on the road turned to ice.   Finally we slowly drove on and finally made it to our motel after 10 PM (fortunately we had reservations).
In late February, we traveled to McKinney, TX (north of Dallas) to spend some time with our daughter and family.  On March 28, we packed up and set out on our 2012 exploring trip heading to Kansas, then meandered to New Hampshire where we are now camped.
In Kansas we went to the New Horizons factory where we had our custom 5th wheel trailer made in 2002.  We have been traveling fulltime in our 32 ft 5th wheel for almost 9 years now and it is still in great condition.  Over the years we have talked about getting a new 5th wheel but decided that what we have is just fine.  It is our home and we have become ‘attached’ to it.  We did look at all of the new options that are now available and decided to get the Big Foot automatic leveling system installed this year.  Instead of driving up on multiple boards to try to level the trailer each time we stop for the night, all we do now is unhook from the truck and press a button.  The system automatically lowers the 4 hydraulic legs (feet) and levels the trailer.  What an improvement!
After Kansas we visited relatives in Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio.  While in Indiana, we had our suspension system checked and aligned to make sure that the two MorRyde Independent Suspension axles that Jan had replaced during our travels last year were still doing well.
In our travels so far this year we have visited 15 more National Park Service sites - from Lincoln’s Boyhood Home in Indiana, and the newly dedicated Flight 93 Memorial Plaza in Pennsylvania, to the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion in Vermont.  One of the most unusual sites was the Allegheny Portage Railroad Historic Site.  In the early 1800's the state of Pennsylvania built a canal system from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, but could not go over what is known as the Allegheny Mountain Ridge.  The solution decided upon was to build a series of inclines on both sides of the ridge, then load specially built canal boats onto rail cars and pull these cars up the inclines via multiple stationary steam engines using a rope (which broke a few times with disastrous results) and later a steel cable.  This method was used for about 20 years until being replaced by the Pennsylvania Railroad built thru the mountains including the historic 220 degree Horseshoe Curve and Gallitzin tunnel.  Both the Curve and the tunnel are still heavily in use today and we watched the trains go by (a pastime for rail buffs known as railfanning).  One interesting note is that in the 90’s, they had to lower the railbed in the Gallitzin tunnel to accommodate double high stacked semi truck trailers.
In addition, we have photographed 11 additional lighthouses on the Detroit River in Michigan, Toledo Harbor in Ohio, on Lake Oneida in New York (used as part of the New York Canal System), and in Connecticut on Long Island Sound.  We are rapidly approaching the 925 lighthouse mark.  Fortunately, there are lots of lighthouses in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia where we are headed and so reaching more than 1,000 this year is within easy reach.
Also in our travels, we have visited and added 17 more stamps to our National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Passport Book (for a total of over 85 now).  One of the most unusual refuges we visited was the Ohio River Islands NWR in northern West Virginia.  This refuge encompasses 22 islands in the Ohio River and 3 land tracts from Pittsburg down the Ohio River for 362 miles (needless to say we did not see/visit all of these islands).   One of the primary efforts of the refuge is to protect 40 species of freshwater mussels, including at least two endangered species. These fascinating mollusks, some among the most imperiled wildlife in the country today, require fish hosts in their life cycles.  It is estimated that at one time there were over 80 species of freshwater mussels in the Ohio River, but due to pollution this number was greatly reduced.  Progress is being made and the number remaining has stabilized.
One other theme we have added to our places to see is visiting Presidential Libraries, Museums, and Homes.  We have visited some before (such as the Clinton Museum in Little Rock and the Carter Museum in Atlanta).  So, this year while we passed thru the Midwest and northeast we visited the Dwight Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, KS; the Grouseland Home of William Henry Harrison in Vincennes, IN; the Rutherford B. Hayes Museum in Fremont, OH; the McKinley Museum in Canton, OH; and the Calvin Coolidge Museum in Northampton, MA.  The one in Northampton is next to Smith College and almost downtown.  We decided to stop by with our trailer in tow before knowing what we getting into.  If we had turned one way, there was a railroad bridge that was too low for us to go under.  Fortunately, our GPS system had us turn the other way and we found multiple parking meters in a row in which to park.  It felt funny putting quarters into multiple meters in a row.
Of course while being in New England, we are in covered bridge country and we cannot go thru any of them with our trailer (and not even with our truck in most cases).  This means that we have to stick to the main roads unless we know what is out there.  Our trucker GPS system even would take us thru some of them if we followed it.  Fortunately, the directions we received from the campground where we are now were very specific on what route to take to get there since there are at least 2 bridges in the way.  Note: We have not gotten carried away trying to see all of the covered bridges up here, but have managed to drive thru (with a rental car, of course) ten of them.
In our previous travels we had not gained an appreciation for the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts, and the Green Mountains in Vermont.  These may be smaller mountains than the Rockies, but there are many long up and down grades.  The side roads are loaded with curves and it is hard to find a straight road.  They have done a superb job with the Interstate Roads (especially in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts) where they are lined with very green beautiful trees even in heavily populated areas.  To make it also feel like driving thru forests, there are trees in the median for miles and it looks like you are driving on a single road.  There may be a lot of hype about the fall colors, but the spring green colors this year are spectacular.
Tomorrow we are moving on to the Boston area for week where there are numerous historical places to visit, lighthouses to see, and even a couple of wildlife refuges to visit.  Fortunately, we have friends that have offered their driveway to park in during this time (their home is 15 miles closer to downtown Boston than the nearest campground).  After visiting Boston, it is time to head north to Canada and take the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. If all goes well, we plan to spend almost 2 months in Newfoundland and then a month in Nova Scotia (and maybe even a week back in Prince Edward Island) before heading back to the States. 
Hope this update finds you all doing well
Red Winged Blackbird in Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio near Lake Erie
Turtle sunning itself in Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge near the Mississippi River near St. Louis
Grouseland - William Henry Harrison's Home as the first governor of the Indiana Territory - in Vincennes, Indiana


Colorful sign at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe, Michigan

Locomotive carving by Ernest "Moonie" Warther in the Warther Museum in Dover, Ohio.  This is one of many carvings that he did.  This one is carved out of ebony and ivory and the parts are movable.  Even the lettering underneath the locomotive is carved 1 letter at a time (first in the wood, then out of ivory and then the letter is placed into the wood).  Truly an outstanding place to visit.

Rutherford B Hayes home in Spiegel Grove - Fremont, Ohio

Verona Beach Lighthouse on the eastern shore of Lake Oneida in New York

Norman Rockwell studio in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  Visiting the musuem and his studio here brought back some great memories (especially of the Saturday Evening Post magazine covers).

Ashuelot Covered Bridge - Winchester, New Hampshire - Built in 1864

Bissell Covered Bridge - Charlemont, Massachusetts - Build in 1951 - Restored in 2009

Conway (Burkeville) Covered Bridge - Conway, MA - Built in 1870 - Restored in 2005

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge - Over the Connecticut River between Vermont and New Hampshire - This 449 ft. long bridge was built in 1866 and rebuilt in 1988 and you can still drive thru it.  It is the 2nd longest covered bridge in the U.S and the 4th longest in the world.  It was the longest in the U.S. until the new Smolen-Gulf bridge was built in Ohio in 2008.

Weir Farm National Historic Site - Wilton, Connecticut.  In 1882, painter J. Alden Weir came here and found a refuge away from Manhattan that is only 50 miles away.  This remains to today as a refuge for artists.

Fayerweather Island (Black Rock Harbor) Lighthouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  The Bridgeport ferry to Long Island is passing by.


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