Land of OZ, Waterfalls and Fall Color
Here are a few thoughts from TY before the rest of the story
Pennsylvania: Land of OZ, not the wizard of OZ but Doctor OZ and his buddy Governor candidate Mastriano; I wish I had the yard sign contract. We are in a very rural part of the state and yard signs are everywhere. Another interesting thing is when you get out of these very small towns, they have functioning phone booths. Pick up the receiver get a dial tone, dial the 800 number and someone will tell you how much your call will be. Who would have thought?
Anyhow we came here primarily to see Gettysburg and enjoy the fall colors. Gettysburg as you might imagine was very moving; 58,000 men(and 1 woman) killed or wounded in 3 days, July 1,2,3 1863. While the war continued for a couple of more years it was one of the first major defeats for the confederates and Lee. The museum and battlefield offer reminders of things I learned over the years but have somehow forgotten. Reading Lincoln’s Gettysburg address is still moving today even though at the time the southern press address described it as “silly” “a total waste of anyone’s time” etc. along with political cartoons. Politics has always been a nasty business from the beginning of our nation through today. I mentioned we came in part to see the colors and did we see the fall colors. We started in the Pocono Mountains; their higher altitude brought the colors out in early October. As we then traveled through the state the colors remained spectacular. We had three full weeks of prime viewing regardless of our mode of transportation, hike, bike, automobile. I had very high expectation and they were exceeded daily.
55th Class Reunion
Can’t believe it – 55 years ago I graduated from St. Mary’s of Redford, Detroit, MI. 55 years!! It was a small gathering at Monahan’s KofC hall in Livonia and since we were in the area, I got the chance to attend. Chris Black hosted a Friday evening for Gina, Diane, myself, and our significant others. Sat (the big day) we girls played golf in the afternoon before going to the reunion (starts at 4 ends at 7 so people do not have to drive in the dark – gad we are old!). Golf was so much fun; I do not have clubs with me, so I played with Gina’s, which were very fine. In the pic, I will not say anything about Diane’s driving – just she found the curb!
Chet the Jet
Puppy selection has been made and on Nov 3 he will be with us in our forever home.
Checked off our bucket list the things we wanted to do in PA
Gettysburg
This is a must-see Civil War site. 3-day battle, so many men (1 woman) on both sides killed or wounded. This is the site of the famed Gettysburg Address “Four scores and seven years ago…” Interesting tidbits about this speech. Lincoln was asked to give a short speech at the dedication of the cemetery (initially only for the Union soldiers). The preceding speaker, the Governor of PA gave a 90 minutes speech and then Lincoln spoke for 4 minutes. In this speech he says “long will we not remember what was said here…” yet his speech is one that goes down in the history books. Another tidbit is the fraction that did not favor Lincoln or the Republican party, ridiculed the speech as “corny” “not well spoken” “frivolous.” Boy they wrong.
Parking Meters
I must have about 10 parking apps, at least, on my phone; when we first started out, I was intimated by having to use the phone to pay for parking, now after 4 years I will admit I have gotten good at it.
In Gettysburg we decided to just roam the town and of course the dreaded parking meters. While loading the app (of course, every city has their own parking apps), started to read the meter label and what do I see?? No parking fee on holidays. Today is Columbus Day (Indigenous Day for the more progressive states)
Ty and I had a lot of fun walking down the street telling parkers struggling with the app: “Hey its Columbus Day…parking is free!!” Felt like we are doing our civic duty. Ha ha
Harrisburg
Capital of PA and probably the most opulent capital we have been into to date. There was so much gold everywhere you would have thought PA mined gold not coal!
Ringing Rocks
Rated as one of the top 10 must see (hear) sites to visit – but is in New Jersey! Anyway, a huge boulder field that you scramble out on with your hammer and you start to hit away on the rocksI Climbed into the rock field with hammer in hand and hit a lot of rocks. Some ringggggg, some thud. Interesting just saying
Descendants! Best Bar Yet
On our way back from the Ringing Rocks, right on the PA side of the Delaware River is this very quaint town with this bar that looks like it is right out of the movie James and the Great Peach. Better still is (we always sit at the bar) the owner, Joe, came over and chatted with us, we imbibed in his favorite Irish Whiskey, Redbreast, and talked about our travels. What we liked about this place is many locals wandered in, everyone knowing each other and Joe (who with family lives above the bar), some patrons even babysit occasionally for them. It is a place where “everybody knows your name.”
Poconos
Then hiked where we saw 23 waterfalls in one day! Surprisingly, the water was still rushing over these falls, and it was a good thing too ‘cause it was very steep slippery climb down all the rocks (Deja Vue of New Hampshire, Mt Washington) and then having to climb back out – 4.5 miles round trip, took us 4 hours! Biked over 40 miles of the Lehigh Gorge, a D&L rail to trails; right along the river, sunny days in the 70’s.
Let Me Just Say
Ty did a lot of mountain driving on a lot of back roads; me, I am on the outlook for low hanging branches, overpasses and covered bridges. There were many a back road that Google wanted us to take that we said : “No Way!” Pic shows the mountains and valleys we crossed, covered bridge we can’t get thru (Wanda is 13’1″ tall) and then one sign which when you have 5 tons behind you (Wanda) this twisty turny downhill surpasses any Cedar Point/6 Flags amusement park – just saying.
Allegheny Mountains
The Colors just went on and on, and we hiked or biked on and on. Too bad I didn’t track the miles we hiked, averaged about 4 miles a hike, 3 times a week – you do the math. Then we biked on the off-hike days, around 16 miles a ride – gawd you think we be skinny by now, but we are not!
We like to think of ourselves as pretty experienced hikers, but this Hickory Creek Wilderness was a tough one. It is rated easy, but in the fall with all the leaves on the trail and poorly marked we only managed 3 miles in 4 hours; but we never got lost!!!
Quitting Time?
“When will you quit?” We get asked this question often and honestly, we don’t know. Just the other day after setting up camp I said to Ty “when we stop, we won’t know what to do with ourselves“. It was a realization that we are not ready yet.
Pennsylvania certainly hit all the bucket list items: hiking, biking, fall colors, capital. The colors of fall just had us saying at every turn in the road or trail “Oh my, that is just beautiful”
Next Month and Beyond
November we will get Chet and then mosey on down to Florida where we will store Wanda for the month of December. Which means December we will be in Colorado with family which we miss tremendously (and friends). But we are still having fun!
Hi kids. Wow PA is stunning !! So many waterfalls in one day. Loved our golf pictures including me perpendicular to the road haha. I bet you can’t wait get Chet. He is adorable. Have fun in Florida and Colorado. It was so great to see you both and spend so much time together. Love our SMR Friends forever. Be safe and have fun. Love and hugs.
You guys are amazing! What fun you are having. We miss you.
Don and Trudy
Your blog made me realize that because I lived in PA before I knew I liked to hike and bike, I never took advantage of all that beautiful territory. I was a city girl then, and treated all that beautiful land as just what I had to drive through as fast as possible on the Turnpike to get from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. I lived in both cities, in Pittsburgh in the 70ies so for the first and only time in my life I became a rabid fan of a sports team, the Steelers, of course. You know, Mean Joe Green and the Steel Curtain, the Immaculate Reception, all that glory. But I did hike in the Appalachians in North Carolina so I know what you mean about how difficult hiking among wet leaves and sharp inclines can be.
Looks like you guys are having a great time so Chet # two is in your life now . Looks so cute…Love puppy breath.We bought a house in Wisconsin so please look us up when you pass thru. Miss you both….xoxo