Day 102 HOME Campground Raynham, MA

Captain’s Blog

Saturday

September 12, 2009

This morning Jewel and I did a little investigating and found there are beaches and some trails at this campground. Unfortunately it was raining and cold (welcome back to Massachusetts) so we did not get to enjoy them. It was a tossup if we were going to go back home via the Mohawk Trail or the interstate. The Mohawk Trail Region LINK:
http://www.mohawktrail.com/
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/byway/ma_mohaw.htm

The weather seemed to clear so we chose the trail. The Mohawk trail was the first designated scenic highway; boy you should see it now run down and dilapidated (past tense). When I was a young boy I enjoyed many happy times in this area. Half way thru the weather got ugly and we decided to take the interstate. We truly enjoyed ourselves and the visit with Kelly and her family was more than we could have dreamed of.

So until our next adventure sayonara.

We traveled 9,243.5 miles in the Motorhome and another 3,871 miles in the Jeep for a total of 13,114.5 miles of enjoyment. I think I snapped a picture for every mile.

Good By, r0n and Deb

I captured a picture of this Dead Leave it reminded me of the END to our trip.

THE END

Day 101 Historic Valley Campground North Adams, MA

Captain’s Blog

Friday

September11, 2009

Welcome to the City of North Adams’ LINK:

http://www.northadams-ma.gov/

We have made a couple of attempts to get to the top of Mount Greylock and hopefully this stop will result in success,. The first time Ron tried the climb to Greylock in the Columbus MH but that turned out badly. The poor Columbus was struggling and straining to get up that mountain and we finally had to turn around. The second time the road was closed due to construction.

The weather hasn’t looked too promising since arriving at the CG and the weather forecast is for rain. We wasted no time getting out the door and our first stop was at the Natural Bridge State Park. The Natural Bridge is made of marble and the dam is the only marble dam in the country. It s quite spectacular and different from any dam we have seen.

Natural Bridge State Park LINK:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/nbdg.htm

Western Gateway Heritage State Park LINK:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/wghp.htm

Then it was on to the Hoosac Tunnel, or so we thought. Although we had it plugged into the TomTom we were unable to locate it. We drove around for about 30 minutes with no luck so we headed up to Mount Greylock.

LINK:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/mtGreylock/

The weather was deteriorating and the higher we climbed the fog thickened. By the time we reached the summit you could only see about two feet in front of you. We didn’t let a little weather stop us so we headed to the Bascum Lodge that was built by the CCC’s during the depression. The fireplaces in the lodge are beautiful and you can spend the night in the lodge if you choose to.

r0n NOTE: the ranger attempted to get the $3.00 parking fee from us but I explained to him we had a Senior Mass Pass. (get outa here)!

Back outside we walked to the lighthouse through the dense fog a Massachusetts Veteran’s War Memorial that was erected as a monument to the men and women who fought in our armed services.

CLICK ON VIDEO:

The trip back down the mountain was very interesting. The fog was really thick making seeing very difficult. It’s always an adventure for us.

Back at the MH Ron was intently looking for that Hossac Tunnel.

Welcome to HoosacTunnel.net.LINK:

http://www.hoosactunnel.net/index.php

He finally found what he was looking for and of course has to seek it out. The tunnel is on private land owned by the railroad and there are no trespassing signs. Of course Ron ignored those and made his trip to the tunnel along the railroad tracks. I waited in the car for the fast getaway if needed.

Back at the MH and with his curiosity satisfied we had our last dinner on the road. Tomorrow we will be back home. Ron is not happy about returning home and would like to stay on the road permanently. We have a lot of planning to do if that is our next move.

Day 100 Rest Area Worcester, NY

Captain’s Blog

Thursday

September10, 2009

  WOW, it’s hard to believe it has been 100 days since we started on this great journey of ours. It has flown by so fast and the summer is almost completely behind us.

We left Watkins Glen around 10:30 am heading down the road to the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, NY. I was expecting a replication of the Corning Glass Factory from years ago but was pleasantly surprised to find several phenomenal glass exhibits including 35 centuries of glass on display.

The museum is enormous so we tried to get through in an orderly fashion so as not to miss anything. Many of the pieces caught our eye and we realized we do have eclectic taste. We liked anything from super modern to antique.

There was a chess set that was made up of glass figurines of religious figures that was absolutely beautiful. And, a museum of glass would not be complete without stained glass windows from Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

We attended several glass demonstrations including a hot glass show where the young lady fashioned a great crab from blown glass.

She had done apprenticeships for several years with artisans around the world. Many of the artisans do a six -year internship in the glass blowing department at Corning or they come to Corning out of college with glass blowing as part of their college curriculum. We then attended a flame - working demo where the man made a beautiful horse from a shaft of glass. Later we attended a glass breaking demo and fiber- optic demo that were both fun and informative.

Back in the museum we pursued the remaining exhibits and were once again impressed by the talent of so many people. We were in the museum for over four hours and certainly could have spent more time there if we had wanted to take part in glass blowing our own ornament.

 

We didn’t get back on the road until 4 pm and drove for about three hours. We stopped for the night at a rest area and tomorrow we will be heading to North Adams.

Day 99 Watkins Glen State Park Watkins Glen, New York

Captain’s Blog

Wednesday

September 9, 2009

Today we drove the 90 miles to Watkins Glen. We have attempted to stop here on two different occasions but other factors prevented us from doing so.

Watkins Glen was craved by glacial waters moving through shallow river valleys leaving deep, steep sided throughs. That on-going process is responsible for what is now the park’s rugged gorge and spectacular waterfalls (19 of them).

To start our hike through the gorge we had to pass over a suspension bridge which sits 85 feet above the gorge creek bed. During the great flood of 1935, the water rose to within five feet of the bridge. Now that’s a lot of water.

In the 1800’s, the dining room of the three story Glen Mountain House peered over the gorge next to the Suspension Bridge and Lily Pod. Today the resort hotel is gone but we did see remnants of the building’s foundation.

The gorge is 1.5 miles long and hundreds of feet deep with 19 waterfalls, two of which you can walk under (we did) with over 800 stone steps to climb. We were enamored with the beauty of the place and as always amazed at the geological aspects of the formation of the gorge.

We walked up the 800 steps for the 1.5 mile trek through the gorge and then we retraced our steps for the 1.5 mile trek back to the car. I lost count of the steps at around 1300 but I’m sure the 1600 steps round trip was accurate. We enjoyed that wonderful walk and we are both happy we finally got to see the place.

The walkways are ancient sea floors that are petrified.

On the map there was an Iroquois Lodge noted. We have seen so many beautiful lodges associated with both state and national parks that we had to check this one out. Oh yes, did I mention that all those beautiful lodges were in the Midwest and on the West coast??? The lodge here was quite different – not a lodge at all but a long building with a roof to accommodate picnickers. I guess the definition of a place depends on where you are in the country.

Another wonderful day in our adventures with a great day of exercise for us both.

CLICK to SEE VIDEO: