CA to NY 11

Day 35 8/11/17

Another good ride today. Stopped once for lunch, fuel not needed...yet. Left West Virginia about 11 and arrived in PA's Uniontown KOA at 2:45 pm. The campground is huge and it's crowded...packed. A peek toward the pool area behind the office and very well stocked camp store showed campers and their kids enjoying the amenities. 

My campsite, circled above, for an overnighter, is just fine. I'm surrounded
by other campers...and their kids.

The other name this KOA is known by is the River's Edge. I typed the name of the river on the site map above but had to research its derivation. It also has the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail also called the Yough Bike/Hike Trail running through it. The name, Youghiogheny, is derived from the Algonquian word meaning "contrary stream." And, indeed it is. It's the only river in western Maryland (its origin) that does not flow south into the Potomac River. The river has a railroad on either side but the one on the other side from the campground and river is still working; the one on our side is the bike trail. Fortunately, there are no crossings which require whistle blowing. What you hear instead is the approach; the low, rumbling drone of the two to six CSX 6,000 h.p. diesel/electric engines. Once the engines pass, then you can listen to the freight cars sing their own unique rhythmic cadence of clickity-clack, rattling, bangs, clanks, clangs and clinks as they follow each other over the rails. They crawl north at a very slow rate, maybe 5-10 mph. The freights traveling south go faster. The one, however, that passed by at 10:06 pm let out just one long and very loud blast; surely echoing off the adjoining hillside. I'm thinking that rogue engineer knew he was passing an RV park and said hello. Scared the hell outta me and I'm sure a lot of other campers. Watching them slowly passing by conjured up old stories of the hobos "freight hopping." What a history and culture are contained in those thoughts. 

Nothing outstanding about the drive today other than enjoying the scenery of a different state; wondering what people do for a living, where they go to shop when exits are few and far between. The photos that follow are the point and shoot variety; shots taken without looking; eyes are always on the road. Promise.

Leaving the Days Inn and the KOA behind it, you get a glimpse of the
adjoining lot of vehicles yet to be sold. This inventory is typical all along
the Interstates. Acres and acres of new and used automobiles. How many
questions come to mind when seeing this?

The other half of the lot taken over my shoulder looking back.

West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania have their share of
rolling hills; the lush green landscape made for some very
picturesque scenes.

There was a difference; there was a greater distance climbing then,
at the crest, it was a longer distance coasting down to where the
highway once again levels out.

These were the type of rolling hills where you play leap frog with
the truckers. On the way up, you pass them; on the way down,
they pass you. 

Well, now that this journey is down to its last two days, I must say that
setting up Winnie has become an efficient routine taking no more than
ten minutes. Hooking up to shore power is all I really need for the AC...

Hooking up to water is optional because I carry thirty gallons in my fresh
water tank. The awning comes out only when there is no forecast for rain.
Breaking down the next morning is just as easy...but more attention
is given to the inside. Nothing is more disturbing than hearing
a bang or crash behind you while driving and not being able to look.
I have no rear view mirror.

River looking south

Looking north

The following shots to round out my overnight stay are of the surrounding area as I stand and turn to shoot.

And finally, a note about this hitchhiker.
Flew in last night  in West Virginia, took the trip to PA and
I let him go in the campground. I've probably set an
ecological disaster into motion by introducing the only moth known
to man that lays its eggs in or on RVs and then the larvae consume
their hosts. We'll watch the news for this one.

Tried to blend in with the decor but his light colored wing
pattern gave him away. Looked it up and the closest
I could come to one like it was the Lunate Zale moth.

Day 36 8/12/17

Yes, I've been here before. It was my first stop going west on 7/8th,
36 days ago and alas, it's my last stop before settling down in
Croton's RV Park. The first stop and the last stop of what has
been an incredible and special journey.

Secluded and wooded site. Behind me 6 or 7 women
were enjoying a "Girl's Weekend" in one the cabins.
Tomorrow before I leave, I'll stop by and have free
pancakes and coffee up at the Pavilion. A nice touch
for this KOA.

My day's journey in a few shots. The ride through this part of PA was simply gorgeous. Yesterday I mentioned the long uphills and downhills...more of the same today. My mouth dropped when I saw a sign indicating an upcoming downhill grade of 6% for THE NEXT 7 MILES!! Now that's a long trip downhill. At the bottom you drove up again and so it went. "Rolling hills" to say the least. From these shots you can see I-99 was quite high. The scene was not as sharp as I would have liked due to overcast skies.

As I approached my destination after 2½ hours, the threatening skies
moved in and I saw the squall just ahead of me. By the time I arrived
at the KOA, it had dissipated and the sun returned once again.

Site 85 turned out to be completely enclosed in a curtain of trees and
shrubs. Total privacy.

A view up the road....

...and the road back down the hill I just came up.

Well, I've quoted my friend Geoffrey Chaucer before. He, in 1374, is attributed with the phrase, "all good things must come to an end." I want to make this my final entry for my trip of a lifetime...cross country to San Jose and back AND with the added 'once in a lifetime' event of traveling eight days with my son, Chuck, from San Jose, Ca to Austin, TX. Very few fathers get to brag about such an experience. As mentioned time and time again, I'm a very fortunate man...in so many ways.

I'll be settling in at Croton's RV Park until Wednesday of next week during which time I have a list of "to-do's" that in no way can get done in the time frame I've given myself. I've got an eclipse to catch so I'm on a very tight schedule. Once on the road, I'll probably keep the same format of blogging events every two days. This is also a very good time to thank readers who have come along for the ride especially to Diane and Ed for taking care of my mail and plants. FYI, I've written ten blogs on my way west and, counting this one, eleven for my trip back home. I'll start my next adventure with "Eclipse-1" for the remainder of August. If you care, you can click on this link, SUMMER 2017 and scroll down to catch the upcoming trips.

On average fifty people have read each of my blogs. The NY to CA-1 and the CA to NY-1 blogs each had 90+ readers. Wow. Thank you. For those who love "statistics" you may be interested in knowing:

• I traveled through 16 states in 36 days;
• For a total of 6,549 miles;
• Averaging 250 miles/day (I was stationary 10 days)
• I stayed at 4 non-KOA parks and 21 KOAs
• Averaging $47.00/night
• I used 467 gallons of diesel and
• Paid an average of $2.59/gallon,
• Averaging 14.5 miles per gallon

I've enjoyed writing which resulted in only twenty pages being read of the Tolkien trilogy. I have another Michael J. Sullivan novel (Age of Myth) waiting for me and the next trip. So, till next time, dear reader, thank you for you kind comments and look forward to sharing my next adventure with you.