Road Trip #9, Part 5 – Headin’ Back South

Following an enjoyable 6 days in Rhode Island we decided that it was time to head back south, so on September 30 we packed up and headed out across Connecticut for the Hudson River.  Our destination campground was the NYC North KOA in Plattekill, NY, just north of Newburgh.  An intended stop while here was the US Military Academy at West Point, but with the rainy weather and “Post 9/11” visitor and tour restrictions we were physically unable to take a tour.  When we hooked up our electric in the campground, we apparently didn’t securely plug our 30 amp power cord into the receptacle and we blew a circuit breaker and suffered an electric failure.  The KOA folks were very helpful and we finally resolved the issue.  We were going to stay for two nights, but a continued rainy weather forecast and my breathing issues were slowing us down so we decided to forfeit one night’s camping fees and we moved on the next day.  Our next destination was the Allentown KOA in New Tripoli, PA.  This was another nice KOA.  We spent a night here and then on October 2, we moved to the Lancaster, PA area and the Country Acres Campground in Gordonville, PA.  After setting up we enjoyed a free supper at the US-30 Diner.  Evidently a former sailor spotted my Retired Navy hat and bought our supper.  Thank You Shipmate!!

As we were working our way south, Hurricane Matthew was working his way north up the east coast and we recognized that we would have to make some adjustments in our planned route.  The first thing we did was scratch Annapolis, Washington, DC and the Viet-Nam Memorial from our itinerary and sit out the storm in the Lancaster area.  Also, my portable oxygen concentrator had become almost a constant companion and my breathing issues made our setup and teardown more difficult.  Barb was having to do more and more of the heavy work as I was getting winded so quickly.

On October 3^rd we celebrated Barb’s Big Seven-oh with breakfast at Dienner’s Country Restaurant in Ronks, driving around the area and sightseeing and then dinner that night at Miller’s.  The food in the Lancaster area is out of this world and I’m sure we put on a couple of pounds.

The Amish farms are immaculate when it comes to cleanliness and being well maintained.  It’s hard to believe that these folks live without the convenience of electricity and modern machinery.  Notice in one picture the scooters on a bicycle frame.

For Barb’s friends at the MCSO, how’s this for a jail?

My breathing issues progressively worsened and on a 6^th of October emergency room visit for my severe shortness of breath, I was admitted to Lancaster General Hospital for four days.  I was released on the 10^th and we hung around the area four more days while I regained my strength and on the

14^th as we sang “On the Road Again” and headed for Spotsylvania, VA and the Fredericksburg KOA.we were “eyeballed” by a youngster in the buggy in front of us.

Road Trip #9, Part 3 – Fall Colors? What Fall Colors?

After leaving the Skyline Drive and the mountains of Virginia we took a route leading us to Cooperstown, NY, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I had been there years ago and Barb had never been, so our visit to the Hall of Fame was awesome.  Of course we saw the plaques of all of our favorite Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, notwithstanding those of our other favorite players from over the years.  Here are a couple of memories.

After two days in Cooperstown, we moved on to Copake, NY and a one week visit with our longtime friends, Ken and Carol.  We stayed at the KOA in Copake where the theme for the weekend was The Wizard of Oz topped off with a Saturday morning Hot Air Balloon fest.  The owner of the CG gave us a premier campsite right across the street from the balloon launch zone when she found out I was a photographer.

While in Copake we took a day’s ride to Poughkeepsie, NY.  I have a Revolutionary War ancestor, Casper Casparus Westervelt, who served as a private in the NY Militia in the 1700’s and is buried there.  We spent the day in the Dutchess county courthouses in Poughkeepsie unsuccessfully trying to locate the grave yard and came away with a copy of his will and the deed to his property.

Upstate New York has such picturesque farms.

We had a fantastic visit with Ken and Carol but we were about a month too early for the change in colors in Copake.  Maybe we shoulda gone to Maine.  We heard that their trees had color.  Anyway it was time to move on to the next leg of our journey, so on September 24^th we headed for Rhode Island, a small state in which we had previously spent a small amount of time.

Road Trip #9 Continues, Part 2 – Fall Colors in New England

From Kingsland, GA to Wytheville, VA was non-eventful, just driving a few hours each day and set up in the campground for the night.  We stayed in Walterboro, SC; Fort Mill, SC, on the NC line, and then to Wytheville, VA.  We stayed there for two nights to allow us a little sightseeing time.  The “smallest” thing that attracted us was this “Smallest Church in Wytheville”.

The church was built by the Outreach Ministry of one of the Baptist churches in Wytheville and in memory of one of the members who was extremely active in the ministry.  It is one of the smallest churches in the United States.

While in Wytheville we also had a super lunch at this 1776 Log House.

We left Wytheville, but not Virginia and drove north 187 miles to the Harrisonburg KOA, another scenic mountain campground.  This KOA is close to the Skyline Drive and we dedicated our second day here to take a ride on the drive and get some pictures.

These two pictures were taken looking west from Skyline Drive vantage points.

Week 5, Theme 11 – Descending

Recently, while in downtown Norfolk, we noticed some workmen “Descending”  the side of a building and cleaning the dirty white stone surface.  As the “Descending”  cleaners made downward progress, it was possible to see the fruits of their labors.

 

Week 4, Theme 5 – Birds Eye View

For this theme, “Bird’s Eye View”,  I chose to use an Eagle’s “Bird’s Eye View”  from the top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Virginia.  Mill Mountain, at 1693 feet above sea level, is an ideal location to view the city of Roanoke and surrounding counties and mountains.  On top of the mountain is the famous Roanoke Star.  This star was erected in 1949 and is the reason that Roanoke is known as the Star City of the South.  When we lived in Roanoke, if the star was lit up in red instead of white, it signified that there had been a local traffic fatality.  This practice was later discontinued.  Over the years, Roanoke has grown and spread out as this “Bird’s Eye View”  shows.

As a bonus I’ve included images of the star and of the plaques at the base of the star.

Week 2, Theme 41 – Shades of Gray

One evening, while in the Tidewater area, we took a dinner cruise on the “Spirit of Norfolk”.  The boat departs from Waterside in Norfolk and cruises down the Elizabeth River to the point where it opens out into the Chesapeake Bay.  As we cruised down the river, we passed various shipyards and the U.S. Navy’s Norfolk Naval Base.  Although the “fleet” wasn’t in port, there were a considerable number of ships in for maintenance or stand-down periods between at-sea operations.  With the evening light, the ships appeared to be in various “Shades of Gray”.

 

Week 1, Theme 2 – A Worm’s View

During a recent Road Trip to Virginia, we spent some time in Virginia Beach at my brother-in-law’s home.  Over the years my sister-in-law has accumulated a collection of ceramic elves and has placed them in their yard around the trees.  Here is one of those elves from “A Worm’s View”.

Week 17 – 45. That’s So Funny

During our visit to Virginia Beach at Christmas last year we spent an evening in Norfolk at a huge shopping mall.  As we wandered the mall we spotted this fountain and one of our group suggested I try a Forced Perspective shot of my niece’s son.  We posed Carter and I took several shots just prior to being told by mall security to put my camera away.  My thought was “That’s So Funny”.