October 6-8, 2023 Visiting Family and Friends

Friday, October 6th

On Friday Morning, we woke to rain and drizzle. After doing our final preparations (shutting down the house and organizing the RV), we were off.

The traffic on I-81 in Pennsylvania was terrible – lots of construction and back ups, plus the rain did not help.

And then we were in…

Once we crossed the state border, the road was great and the rain held up – YEA!

We made our way to Camillus, New York and parked in my aunt’s driveway.  We spent the rest of the evening getting caught up with my Aunt and Cousins.  What a great time!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 217 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Pennsylvania: Chestnut Street; US-209; US-61; I-81

New York: I-81; I-690; NY-695; NY-5; NY-98; NY-155; Carol Drive

Saturday, October 7th

After a great breakfast of Swedish Waffles made by my aunt, my cousins, Lauren and Fred, took us sightseeing. 

They built a camp/vacation home north of Syracuse on a lake so that was our first stop.  What a beautiful place. I am so happy for them!  (Sadly I did not take any pictures – )

From there we went to the Fish Hatchery.  The salmon are running right now and it was amazing to see all the streams filled with fishermen.

The Hatchery had a nice little museum that talked about the salmon and their journey as well as other fish found the streams and Great Lakes.

The fish are making their way up the ladder to the hatchery:

Blocking the fish from going upstream – to ensure that they go to the hatchery:

It was amazing to see all those salmon jumping.

Here is the link if you would like to know more:   https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/21663.html

My cousins, Lauren and Fred:

We all got together for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse – YUM!  And had a great visit afterwards.

My cousins, Eric and Pennie and my Aunt Loretta:  

Sadly I did not get a picture of Rachel (Eric/Pennie’s daughter) or Julia (Lauren/Fred’s daughter).  What beautiful girls.

Guess who?!:

WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME!  Thanks to my Aunt Loretta and Cousins Lauren, Fred, Eric, and Pennie for making us feel special!

Sunday, October 8, 2023

After saying our goodbyes and doing some errands, we headed south to Cortland, New York.

It was a beautiful day!

We are here to visit our friend, Anne.  We met Anne at the Florida SKP Park where we both had lots.  When we first arrived there, Anne was one of the first folks we met.  At that same time, a stray cat adopted us.  As it turned out, Anne adopted the cat and she has been her buddy every since.   The young stray has turned into one beautiful friendly cat. 

We spent the day getting caught up with each other.  Anne gave us a tour of her beautiful home with a great view. She treated us to a great dinner and we were able to meet her daughter,Sandy, son and son’s friend, Greg and Jenn.

Andy, Anne, and me:

Thank you all for the great time and hopefully we will see you again.

Stats for Sunday:

    

Miles Traveled: 40 Miles

Routes Traveled:

New York: Carol Drive; NY-155; NY-98; NY-5; NY-695; I-690; I-81; NY-281; NY-90; Foster Road 

Tomorrow we continue our journey south so stay tuned and enjoy today!

Summer and Now Fall 2023

Hard to believe we have been home four (and then some) months! 

WOW! It has been a world wind for us!!

On Friday, 6th, we leave for another adventure so stay tuned.

(PS. This is also a test that everything works…)

A few pictures from the summer:

Our Bella (who is still having an issue from losing her Dusty):

Gray (who now wants to rule the roost!):

Our cousin Mary K passed in May – this is from her funeral dinner:

Of course, always a trip to the beach – this is Bethany Beach. 

50th HS Reunion:

The St. Francis Girls at the 50th Reunion:

From a trip with my cousin to Corning, NY:

And the girls giving me a send off at one of our local pub:

So stay tuned for the next adventures.

PS, This is also a test to make sure everything works – LOL!

May 9, 2023 We are Home!

(Note: This blog is picture intensive.  Many of the pictures were taken as we were driving so they may not be super sharp. But the scenery just had to be captured. Notice the topography changes as we traveled– Amazing!)

After a nice quiet night at Walmart, we were up and heading east again.

A little cloudy:

Passing the highest point in Pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains:

Folks in the “holler”:

Thru some mountain passes:

And past farmland:

Aren’t those mountains beautiful!

And so are the farms:

Heading southeast now – over the Susquehanna River:

Passed more farms:

Love the green hills:

We arrived home early afternoon.  Great to be home!

Today’s stats:

Miles Traveled: 201 Miles 

Routes Traveled:

Pennsylvania: PA-68; I-80; PA-54; PA-901; US-209

May 13 – We have been busy opening up the house and closing down the motorhome.  We will be home for the summer and hope to head out again in the fall – no time frame yet.

Our only plans are to reconnect with our friends and family. (Hint: Feel free to stop by.)  And, of course, see all our doctors..  LOL!

Stay tuned for our next adventure and enjoy today and the summer!

Thank you all for following along!

August 26, 2022 Travel to Ohio

We did our final checks, packing and walk about and away we went.

Heading south on 209:   

Crossing the Susquehanna on 81:

Past the farms:

Heading to Western Pennsylvania Mountains:

Thru the Blue Mountain Tunnel (Tunnel 1):

Cool – this camera is GREAT!:

The light at the end of the tunnel:

But wait..another tunnel (Tunnel 2)..The Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel:

Love these mountains:

Tunnel Number 3 – Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel:

And the last one – Tunnel 4 – Allegheny Mountain Tunnel:

And we are out and among the mountains:

Pennsylvania turnpike has a few abandoned tunnels and a few years ago, three of us took a trip to see one set of them…very scary!

More farms – I love this picture:

That sky is very ominous:

A little rain as we crossed over to West Virginia:

But stopped as we crossed the Ohio River and entered Ohio:

Very dark:

Just as we got parked at the campground, it poured but stopped about 30 minutes later so we could hook up.

We are staying at Utika Shale RV Park in Belmont Ohio for the night.  It is a no frills park with full hookups.  The reason we are not boondocking is that it is HOT and HUMID and between us and the cats, we like it cooler.

Our Nexus rides like a bouncy truck and things get bounced around.  We thought we secured everything but did not so it was an interesting hour when we first settled in – LOL!  More arranging (and some repairs) to do going forward!

Our new GPS worked wonderful – loving it.  And the camera – loving that too.  Still learning both – good for my brain!

Tomorrow we continue west so stay tuned and enjoy today!

Stats for today:

Miles:  310 Miles (Long Day!)

Routes Traveled:

Pennsylvania: US-209; PA-125; I-81; I-76; I-70

West Virginia: I-70; I-470; I-70

Ohio: I-470; I-70; OH-147; Bond Drive