Black Moshannon State Park, PA SEPT, 2007

. In September, Bill and I took the "Ti" out for a week's vacation in central Pennsylvania. Our first stop was Black Moshannon State Park, near State College. It was quite a ride into the park, over 10 miles of narrow, winding roads. The GMC did a great job of pulling and we arrived safe and sound.


Black Moshannon State Park covers 3,394 acres of forests and wetlands that provide recreational for thousands of visitors. More than 34,000 acres of the Moshannon State Forest surround the park and help create a remote and wild setting. According to local tradition, American Indians called this watershed "Moss-Hanne", meaning "moose stream, thus the origin of the park's name. Appropriately, the "black" in the park name describes the tea-colored waters. The 250 acre Black Moshannon Lake is fed by clear spring and small streams that flow through the bogs that stretch in most directions from its shores.

.As the clear water flows through sphagnum moss and other wetland plants, it becomes colored by plants tannins. In a sense, the bog vegetation acts like a giant teabag to color the water.
This is a picture of the bog area.



. That's Bill, starting the campfire so he can grill supper. This is the view from my "dining room window."

GEOCACHING
After crossing the Bridge overlooking Black Moshannon Lake, our hike took us up the Ski Slope Trail to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain. Luckily we didn't see any rattlesnakes! .


Bill found the Geocache hidden in a hollow log just off the
trail at the top of the mountain. .
Our second Geocaching hike took us to the Viaduct Railroad Bridge over Red Moshannon Creek. The red color comes from the coal mines in the area. This ended up to be about a 4-5 mile hike after all was said and done. Ceilidh ( our mini schnauzer) was a real trouper, but was tired when we got back to camp.
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View looking up Red Moshannon creek. Barb & Ceilidh on the bridge.

. This old railroad bridge may be the highest in Pennsylvania since the demise of the Kinzuza Bridge near Warren in Northwest Pennsylvania. This impressive span is 779 feet long, 119 feet high, with 15 spans supported by 8 towers. Construction on the bridge probably began in early 1884. The "Great Moshannon Viaduct", built entirely of iron with the exception of the ties was opened on November 11, 1884. It was rebuilt in 1902-03 and used until 1994..

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.Bill and I found this cache hidden under a large flat rock, just before the bridge. There was a warning on the cache instructions to "tap the cache site before entering" as rattlesnakes have been seen in the area. As you can see, I let Bill pull this one out!!

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Labor Day Weekend, 2007

Daughter in law, Beth and grandchildren Emma and Donavin visited for the weekend. Here's proud grandpa with Dovavin, age 1 year on Sept. 9.

Emma, Donavin and Grampy on the "Cub".
Donavin knew what to do with the steering wheel.

Hang on!

Around the campfire in the back yard with friends Pat & Gary Praisner and their son Troy and girlfriend Emma.

Good wine, good friends.....

The little guy had a busy day. He's all done in.

Pat & Gary

Visit from Jim & Gail, August, 2007

Bill's brother Jim and daughter Gail visited from Florida in August. We spent a day with them at Niagara Falls. This is Jim and Gail beside one of the beautiful flower gardens.

While strolling along the shops, Jim found his new dream toy.

Looking good, Jim!!

Bill & Barb with the American Falls on the left and the Canadian Falls on the right.

Enjoying dinner at one of the many restaurants.

Good food, good family.

The American Falls with tour boats in the foreground and the Peace Bridge to the left.

The Canadian Falls at night. It was a beautiful, warm evening and the end of a wonderful day. Thanks Jim!

Looking Back

LOOKING BACK-May, 2007. Maryland, Virginia, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina

We stayed at the Pocomoke River State Park in Maryland. From there we took many side trips. One was to "Furnace Town", a 19th century village, museum, and nature trail. The nature trail took us through a large stand of cypress trees. At the village was the huge furnace that was used during the Civil War for making ammunition. (Forgot the camera. Sorry....)

Biking at Assateague State Park.

One of the "wild ponies". These animals were on average about 50" tall, a large pony. They were plentiful in the fields and along the roadways. Many of the ponies are "rounded up" each summer and sold at auction in an effort to control the herd.

Bill on our nature walk on the dunes on Assateague Island.

Bill standing beside "Baltimore Boulevard". 15 miles of asphalt roads were built by developers in the 1950's but was destroyed by a storm in 1962. Developers had also cleared land for more than 130 side streets but abandoned the idea after the 1962 storm. The land was too fragile to support the community they had hoped to build.

Biking on the island.

This is the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This is a 17 mile link between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and Virginia's Eastern Shore. This bridge-tunnel is the largest complex of it's kind in the world. It was opened in 1964 and was selected as one of the "Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World." Measuring 17.6 miles from shore to shore, the Bridge-Tunnel consists of more than 12 miles of of trestled roadway, two mile-long tunnels, two bridges, four man-made islands, almost two miles of causeway, and 5 1/2 miles of approach roads, totaling 23 miles. The two underwater tunnels protect two of the world's most important shipping channels. The highest points of the crossings are the North Channel Bridges. They provide high water clearance of 75 feet to accommodate local fishing fleets.





Heading into one of the two tunnels.

Ocean Waves Campground, Waves, NC, was our "headquarters" for our stay at the Outer Banks.

Bill got up early and took this picture of a sunrise over the Atlantic. This beach was just over a dune from our campsite. (I mostly do sunsets, since I'm not usually up early enough to do the sunrises. Hope that changes now that I am retired. I definitely think I am missing something!)

Sunrise with the dunes in the foreground. Nice shot, Bill !

Gotta love the beach!

The Atlantic Ocean just over the dune from our campsite.

We went to Roanoke Island and visited the "Lost Colony". It is still a 400 year old mystery as to what happened to the group of 120 English Settlers that landed on this island in 1587. A supply boat returned in 1590 and the colony was gone without a trace. Pictured is a replica of a ship they would have used to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Not very big!!

Waiting for the free ferry to Ocracoke Island. This is a free service provided by the state of North Carolina. These ferries can accomodate even the largest motor home or truck/rv unit.

The road to Ocracoke is about 12 miles long with stunning views of sand, dunes, ocean, and barrier waters. No high rises or ocean front homes here!

Ocracoke was voted Number 1 in the country for beautiful beaches in 2005 and 2007.

While on the island, we took a bike ride and found the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the oldest lighouse on the East Coast. We ate lunch on a little nature trail that led out to the beach.

While riding around the island we discoverd a small shop that sold folding bikes. We met the owner/designer who teaches math at a North arolina University. We bought two, which will fold and store nicely in the "basement" of the new RV. Check out "Downtube" on the 'net.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest on the East Coast. The lighthouse was move almost 1/2 mile back from the Atlantic Coast several years ago, due to eroding shoreline.

Visit from Mark

Bill's longtime friend, Mark, came up from Pittsburgh for a visit the weekend of July 28-29. On Saturday we went to the Pymatuning State Park Pioneer and Arts Festival. Lots of crafts, food, music, and artists. I talked to a "weaver" and learned a few things, like the kind of table top loom I would need to do weaving when we are "on the road". I thought that might be a good pastime. But I do think I will need to take some lessons. Doubt that I can teach myself!

Sorry, no pictures, forgot the camera! Duh! What was I thinking???

Sitting on our new "front steps".

Relaxing in the recliners. Don't they look comfy??

Of course Ceilidh makes herself at home, too. Notice how she always finds her spot in the sun?

I hope you're not waiting for supper!!

Actually we did cook out on the grill for lunches and dinners. The usual, hot dogs, hamburgers, pork chops, steak, chicken. Had some wonderful fresh sweet corn. Also tomatoes and zuchinni from the garden. Yum.

Taking a picture of Mark taking a picture.......

Our New Wheel Estate

We picked up the Titanium on July 11, 2007 at the Great Outdoors RV Center in Fulton, New York.

Manufactured by Glendale RV.

From there we headed to Rainbow Shores RV Park in Pulaski, NY on the shore of Lake Ontario. We spent 4 days here to be sure everything worked ok. (It did, including the smoke alarm which went off one morning after we had turned on the furnace for the first time. Hope it didn't wake the neighbors!)

July 12, 2007

My second day of retirement! How I love the shore. Ceilidh (our mini schnauzer, pronounced KayLee) wasn't so sure - water is NOT her favorite thing. I can sit for hours listening to the sound of the waves, daydreaming. We have so much wonderful country to see. I can hardly wait to really be "full timers".

One of Bill's famous pictures taken through the binoculars!

Bill's idea of "Night Life".

Notice the sailboat in the distance.

We also love to watch sunsets. This one was particularly interesting with the sail boat about to cross in front of the sun.

Relaxing after a hard day's play. This won't be so hard to get used to!






July 15,2007

Back at our "stick house" in Meadville, PA, safe and sound! Bill widened the driveway by about 10 feet to accommodate the RV. It's a little tricky to get it in the driveway and then turned around.

Now we just wait for the house to sell......