Pennsylvania Dutch Amish Country

October 14, 2013

Traveled to Carlisle, PA. Camping at Western Village RV Park. We overnighted at this same campground in late July on our way to Canada. 

Seasonal camper decorates for halloween

Spooky, eerie camper at this site

Dinner at Cracker Barrel with a barrel of turnip greens for Michael.

October 15, 2013

Day trip about 65 miles away to Lancaster County, PA to tour Amish country. Family style lunch at Good 'N Plenty Restaurant in Smoketon. Patronized Aaron and Jessica Buggy Rides to tour Amish farm in settlement near Bird in Hand.

Good ‘N Plenty Restaurant family style dining – delicious food!

Amish farm house - this one could hold two families, the max allowed.

Buggy ride and tour of Amish farm - Reuben was our guide and driver. Michael wanted the front seat, right at the horse's rear end! You can guess what he smelled, it twernt roses.

October 16, 2013

Hershey PA – Chocolate World, trolley tour of Hershey included Hershey Foundation schools and student homes. Hershey Gardens featured bonsai exhibit.

 Chocolate World was delightful.

The No. 1 selling product for Hershey!

Hershey Amusement Park with the wood constructed roller coaster in foreground

Hershey Middle School - funded totally by Hershey Foundation

Hershey Gardens featured a bonsai exhibit in the butterfly house since the butterflies flew the coop, so to speak, about two months ago.

Bettye prepared short ribs, baked potatoes and grilled beans for dinner. Delicious!

October 17, 2013

Truck in service shop for radiator leak repairs. Loaner car provided – convenient for sight seeing.

Traveled to York PA to tour Harley Davidson factory  where Softails, Touring and Trikes are assembled.

Wild Hawg wannabees?

October 18, 2013

Back to Lancaster County and to the Green Dragon Open Air Market in Ephrata – shopping and brisket sandwiches for lunch.

 Ephrata Cloister, an 18th century German religious settlement

Ephrata Cloister meeting hall - prayer meetings four times daily including one at midnight, one meal daily at 6 pm and only six hours for sleep. All other hours were spent working. How long could we manage a routine like that today?

October 19, 2013

Traveled to Gettysburg to visit Gettysburg National Military Park. Started tour at Visitor Center with video presentation, Cyclorama Exhibit and Museum all sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation, so this area not affected by government shutdown. Battleground Park is a national park and was reopened upon federal government shutdown ending.

Lunch at Visitor Center Food Salon and purchased CD for self-guided auto tour of battlegrounds. Three and one half hours later we had only covered about 80 per cent of tour before dusk.

Honest Abe gets our support before he delivers the Gettysburg Address

Monument of Pennsylvania's own General Meade - one of more than 1,200 monuments erected on the Gettysburg battlefield.

October 20, 2013

Back to Gettysburg to finish touring the battlegrounds and to visit the Eisenhower Historic Site – the President’s farm site in Gettysburg.

Soldiers' National Cemetery and monument erected to commemorate Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

President Eisenhower's summer farm home in Gettysburg

Pennsylvania provided a delightful and entertaining time for the fearless foursome! Now it's on to the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. They say Virginia is for lovers - so looking forward to some lovin'.

Happy trails!

New York – the Empire State

October 11, 2013

Arrived safely at Tall Pines Campground near Bainbridge, NY., our second camping venture in the Empire State. The campground is nestled alongside the Unadilla River and is celebrating Halloween this weekend since it will close for the season on Columbus Day, October 14.

 Camping on the Unadilla River

Enjoying nice riverfront campsite and Michael's roarin' campfire

October 12, 2013

Traveled to Cooperstown and toured the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Babe Ruth at bat, bases loaded, two outs

Go Redbirds! Make it to the 4^th World Series in the past ten years!

Smoked ribs and chicken from the campground were barely edible, no taste, no flavor.

Atrocious, according to Bettye.

October 13, 2013

Down day for R and R. Tomorrow we relocate to Pennsylvania Dutch Amish country, Lord willing.

Happy Trails!

Veteran Vermont Tourists

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Traveling to Londonderry, Vermont

This should be peak week for fall colors

Winhall Brook COE Campground - no cell phone service and no internet service available – how refreshing! 

With the federal government in shutdown, this US Army Corp of Engineers park remained open.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Bennington, Vermont,  a town of about 9000 people and nestled in a valley between Mount Anthony, part of the Taconic Range, and the foothills of the Green Mountains, has several noteworthy attractions. Included in the attractions are covered bridges, Bennington Battle Monument, Hemmings Filling Station and Exhibits, Bennington Museum, the Old First Church and the Old Burying Ground.

A bustling downtown even for a midweek day

Street Art Festival – Catamount Prowl theme exhibited May through October 2013

Lunch at Benner’s Bagels, Pizza ‘N Whatnosh on Main Street

Pizza and salad for Darlene – delicious!

Meatball subs for Michael and Earl – scrumptious!

The Bennington Battle Monument commerates the Revolutionary War battle of August 16, 1777 between British general John Burgoyne’s forces and a group of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts volunteers led by General John Stark who kicked British butts. The stone obelisk completed in 1880 at 306 feet tall is the tallest structure in Vermont.

From the upper lookout chamber, reached by elevator, three states (Vermont, New Hampshire and  York) can be seen.

Hemmings Filling Station and Exhibits

Old First Church (Congregational) organization, dating from 1762, is among the oldest in Vermont.

The church, built 1805-1806, is regarded as one of the more beautiful in New England.

Among the graves in Old Burying Ground, on the Old First Church grounds, are founders of Bennington, soldiers killed in the Battle of Bennington, six Vermont governors

And the poet Robert Frost

Driving the western segment of Molly Stark Scenic Byway provided great views of the colorful fall foliage. Bettye stayed at the campground to rest an angry back.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

West River Hiking Trail from Winhall Brook 4.5 miles to Bald Mountain Dam was exuberant, but only for Earl. The others  were busy walking the dog.

First 2.5 miles of West River Trail is old roadbed. Last 2 miles of trail is walking path over mountainous terrain to Bald Mountain Dam.

West River

Bald Mountain Lake on West River

and Bald Mountain Dam built in 1961 for flood control

Water level has to rise about 40 feet before water will spill over the dam.

The eastern segment of Molly Stark Scenic Byway proved to be as scenic as the western segment.

Vermont dairy farm

Hogback Mountain where three states – Vermont, New Hampshire and New York – can be seen on a clear day.

Creamery Bridge 1879 Brattleboro, VT

and Dummerston 1872 Covered Bridge

Friday, October 4, 2013

Rained all day, stayed indoors while Darlene made jambalaya especially for Bettye.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Per friend Judy Carroll’s recommendation we visited Plymouth Notch, Vermont and the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site. 

We were not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed touring this historic site.

 Lunch at the Wilder House on Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site

Wilder Barns

The Plymoutn Cheese Corp started by Calvin's father

Union Church

where the Coolidges attended church

Plymouth Notch Cemetery – burial site for President Calvin Coolidge and seven generations of Coolidges

Tuesday, October 8, 2012

Back to Bennington, Vermont for lunch at Benner’s and a tour of The Bennington museum. Benner’s specialty calzones were superlicious!

A  highlight of The Bennington Museum was the Grandma Moses gallery of paintings and artifacts. She started painting at age 78, so there is still hope for Bettye to start writing novels or song lyrics.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

We traveled to Proctor, Vermont to see the Wilson Castle and the Vermont Marble Company factory and museum.

Wilson Castle

Restoration work in progress at Wilson Castle

Marble exhibits were quite interesting, especially the slab samples from Tennessee and North Carolina marble quarries. Marble is calcium carbonate which is also used in foods to provide calcium in our diet. We played marbles as youngsters but we never ate them. When we got mad, we took our marbles and went home where our parents were losing their marbles.

Marble for The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was mined in Colorado, shipped by rail to Vermont for cutting,processing and polishing then shipped by rail to Arlington for final sculpting.

Having spent two weeks in Vermont enjoying the fall foliage colors, the quaint villages, the hospitality and good food, fantastic scenery and many other adventures, it is time to move further south. So it is back to New York state where our next stop will be Tall Pines Campground near Bainbridge, NY.

Happy trails!