A Warm Welcome In Frost, WV

Our welcome to Frost, WV, was by no means frosty.  It's not an easy drive to get there, especially if you're like me and tend to get car sick on winding mountain roads.  And if you are looking for any stores, gas stations or rest stops in Frost you won't find them.  We were looking, however, for Mort and Kelly's house and found a very warm greeting when we got there.

The driveway to the house is immediately after the "Frost Unincorporated" sign.  The edge of the property is apparently the eastern boundary of Frost.  The western boundary of Frost is probably less than a mile further down the road.  The only buildings in between are the volunteer fire department, a Methodist church and a couple of other houses.  It's really small town living in Frost.

Mort and Kelly's house in Frost with Pearce greeting us at the front door.

View from Mort and Kelly's back yard.

Pearce playing ball with Grandpa.

Pearce playing cards with Grandpa.

Guy is an expert pogo jumper--he can do over 100 continuous jumps.

A bike ride on the Greenbriar River Trail.

Views along the Greenbrier River Trail.

Not only were we warmly welcomed by family in Frost, but the weather was also warm and sunny the days that we were there.  The northern terminus of the Greenbriar River Trail is very close to Frost, as is Seneca State Forest.  We enjoyed biking a few miles on the trail and driving through some back mountain roads in the state forest.

Also very close to Frost, in fact, so close that we walked to it one morning, is the interesting facility called Mountain Quest.  It is an inn and conference center, which didn't happen to have any guests the day that we were there.  The innkeeper allowed us look around the inn, library (very extensive) and guest rooms.  

The closest town of any size to Frost is the county seat, Marlinton.  We took the opportunity one morning to drive into Marlinton and enjoyed a delicious sandwich at the Dirtbean, a combination cafe, bike shop and wellness facility.  In spite of being the county seat, Marlinton is also a small town, less than 2,000 population.

After biding farewell this morning to our hosts in Frost we wound our way through the West Virginia mountains again, this time heading towards the Tennessee border.  Before stopping for the night we made it as far as Knoxville, TN, where we are relaxing in a motel.  Tomorrow brings new adventures in eastern Tennessee.

Hellos and Goodbyes

Hello again to our storage container and goodbye (for now) to the faithful bicycle that carried me for so many miles this summer in Iowa.

One of the tasks we accomplished in our 5-day day stopover in Virginia was to gain access to our storage container so that we could offload one of 3 bicycles we have been carrying on the back of the car ever since we left Iowa.  It was a strange feeling to look inside the container and see the household goods we had put there way back in December.  One file cabinet drawer had come loose, but, other than that, everything was just as we had left it.  And when we resettle somewhere and call for the container to be delivered I expect that we will find everything just as we left it.  Closing the door and saying goodbye to "stuff" is not a big deal.

It was much more difficult to say hello and goodbye to the many friends that we reconnected with this week.  When you are wandering around the country it's easy to get distracted and not pay as much attention as you should to keeping in touch with friends.  With a limited number of days here we didn't see everyone, but we were blessed tremendously by each and every one of the friends we did see.

We are especially grateful to Brian and Darlene for having us over for a cookout, to Greg and Wayne for keeping our mail for us, to Eva for letting us crash at her place and to Matt and Veronica for putting us up at their beautiful country home in Culpeper.  And then our friends at church and Liz and Alex and the group at their home were so welcoming and made us feel that we hadn't left here at all.

But now there are other places yet to visit and it's time to say goodbye once again to Virginia.  Tomorrow's travels will take us to West Virginia where we will see our 2 grandsons and check out the family's new digs in Marlinton.

Weekend at Great Sacandaga Lake

We enjoyed our weekend with the Regans at the cabin they rent every summer on New York's Great Sacandaga Lake. The cabin is one of 12 located on the north shore of the lake at a family-owned property, Kathan Kamps. The Kathan family owned farmland that was flooded in 1930 when Sacandaga Lake came into being at the completion of the Conklingville Dam. Dr. Dudley Kathan moved the farmhouse and several buildings to higher ground and those buildings became the start of Kathan Kamps.

The Regan family history has deep roots at Kathan Kamps. Brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents, all have great memories of fun times at the gatherings here over the years. Time passes and children grow up and buildings age and in 2012 we no longer saw games being played or children digging in the sand at the lake shore. But it is a beautiful, peaceful location and we appreciated the hospitality of our host and hostess.

 Scott in a typical director's chair pose.

Look closely above the trees and the rising sun is visible through the mist

 Rising sun touches peak across the bay

Sun trying to break through the morning mist.

After the sun has evaporated the mist.

No, that isn't me and Lee in the canoe.

When we left New York yesterday our plan was to camp last night at a state park in Pennslyvania.  The weather, however, had other plans.  We encountered some very heavy rains driving from Binghamton to Scranton.  By the time we got to Scranton the worst of the rainstorm was over, but it was in the 60's and gray and drizzly.  We opted for a motel stay and spent a comfortable night.  Today we make the drive to Virginia where we will spend several days at our old home territory visiting friends and taking care of a few items of business.

Travelers in New York

Our travels have brought us to Saratoga Springs, New York, where we are spending several days visiting Lee's mother. Betty is not part of the digital world and has not been able to follow our adventures through the blog. Over the months, Lee was faithful to keep in touch with phone calls and frequent packages containing photos and travel descriptions. It is a treat now for both of them that they can share in person, as they are doing in this photo with the atlas between them.

To get to Saratoga Springs from Michigan we drove on Sunday across the St. Clair River from Port Huron, Michigan, to Sarnia, Ontario. This was my first visit to Canada, although Lee has traveled there a number of times. Once across the bridge (not a speedy process) we stopped at the Visitor Information for maps and brochures. By this time it was mid-afternoon and we hoped to find a campground before dark. All of the provincial parks in this part of Ontario are on Lake Ontario and would have been somewhat out of the way. But we discovered that there were many private campgrounds along our route.

About 10 miles east of London, Ontario, we stopped for the night at a quiet, very clean place called Casey's Campground. It was a first for me to camp in Canada. And there was another first for both of us the next morning shortly after breakfast when the electricity went out. As tent campers we don't require an electric hookup but it did mean no water, restrooms or showers until power was restored. The campground owner assured us that he was doing his best to monitor the situation. And it wasn't too long before the power came back on and we were able to finish getting ready for our day.

This was the day that we made our visit to Niagara Falls. Now I have another breathtaking wonder of nature that I can add to the list of sights seen on our travels.

Horseshoe Falls

A surprisingly drastic drop-off where the Niagara River tumbles over Horseshoe Falls.

Maid of the Mist boat in the background takes passengers to the base of Horseshoe Falls.

American Falls

After filling up on the awesome beauty of Niagara we drove the length of the 30-mile Niagara Parkway that follows the Niagara River from the falls down to the bridge crossing at Fort Erie. We enjoyed the drive with views of the river on one side and beautiful estates and mansions on the other side. At Fort Erie we crossed the Peace Bridge, coming back into the US at Buffalo, New York.

Our stop for the night Monday was a motel in Canandaigua, a small town on the northern end of the lake with the same name (a name that I had a very hard time pronouncing)! This lake is, practically speaking, the westernmost of the series of lakes in New York called the Finger Lakes. A look at a map of New York state shows why this is a fitting name.

Tuesday before leaving Canandaigua we rode our bikes partway around the lake on a road along the western side of the lake.  The Finger Lakes are in a part of the state that is quite hilly and we did get to stretch our leg muscles on several good-sized hills.

Bike ride on road along Canandaigua Lake

View of Canandaigua Lake

Tuesday night was another camping opportunity, this time at a New York state park next to Caroga Lake at the southern edge of Adirondack Park.  Our tent kept us warm and dry during the night as some heavy rainstorms moved through the area.

We are adjusting now to the northeast, which has not suffered from the heat and drought we experienced for months on our travels in the west and midwest.  It is nice to see green again and flowers gardens that have not wilted or dried up.  We look forward to this weekend where we will be visiting the Regans again, this time at the cottage they have rented on Sacandaga Lake.

Are We In Hawaii?

Wow, did we finally find a place where the weather is perfect and the sparkling, sandy beaches await our eternal relaxation? Unfortunately, even if such a place exists, it is not where we were yesterday when this picture was taken.

Friday we left Bowling Green, Ohio, and drove north towards Standish, Michigan. After weeks of hot, dry weather throughout the Midwest the weather pattern took an extreme shift in the opposite direction. It was overcast and drizzly in Ohio and we knew that there would also be rain in Michigan. But we weren't prepared for the amount of rain and for the drop in temperatures.

Our destination was Saginaw Bay Resort where a family reunion was planned for Saturday. We were going to camp there Friday night. But as the rain increased and the temperatures decreased we realized that we would have to change plans. Cousin Terri has a summer home on the bay less than 2 miles from the resort and when she offered us accommodations there for the night we were more than happy to accept.

After a restful, dry sleep at Terri's house we awakened to another chilly, gray day. But at least the heavy rains had given way to only scattered showers. Terri and other family members who planned the reunion did a marvelous job of working around the uncooperative weather to find a place to set up the noon meal where the family would gather. Tables were set up in one end of the resort's pavilion and there was plenty of space for our group to grill and enjoy the dishes everyone had brought. The theme of the week at the resort was Hawaiian and the pavilion was set up for a special dinner later that afternoon for all the resort guests. That explains why we found the photo op in the pavilion of 2 happy Hawaiian travelers.

It wasn't Hawaiian weather by any means, but it isn't the weather that counts when a family comes together. What counts is that you are with people that you care about and who care about you. It was wonderful to see everyone and spend the afternoon catching up with each other. This side of the family doesn't gather together as often as we should. Special thanks to Terri and Kathy and their families for providing the time and place and doing all the hard work to bring this together.

Lee and I are now setting out to cross over into Ontario from Port Huron, Michigan. We will spend a couple of days camping in Ontario, making our way to Niagara Falls, a place that I have not yet seen, but am sure will be beautiful. From there, our destination will be upstate New York where we will visit Lee's mother and reconnect again with Lee's brother and sister-in-law at their annual stay at Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondacks. Let's hope the weather warms back up and that summer isn't over yet.

Greetings from Ohio

Our year of travel and being "homeless" has been a great adventure, but it has also been a wonderful opportunity to stop at various locations in the country and spend time with family and friends we wouldn't otherwise see because they don't live nearby.  The plaque above in the guest bedroom here at the Regan's house in Bowling Green, Ohio, is a reminder that home is much more than a street address where we receive our mail and place our belongings.

Before we arrived in Bowling Green we spent a couple of days in rural western Ohio visiting our friend, Jerry, at his home in Maria Stein.  When we met Jerry last winter in Florida he told us about Maria Stein but neither of us had heard of it before and were not familiar with that part of Ohio.  Jerry has lived there all of his life.  His knowledge of the area and its people and his eagerness to share that knowledge with us was a delightful learning experience.

Mercer County, where Maria Stein is located, has a nickname "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches."  It's an appropriate name as you look around from nearly any location in the area and see one or more of the church steeples in the surrounding communities.  The area was settled in the early 19th century by German immigrants who were almost all devout Catholics.  Under the leadership of the missionary priest, Francis de Sales Brunner, the Society of the Most Precious Blood founded many churches and schools in the region, as well as several seminaries.   The name Maria Stein, in German means "Mary of the Rock".  Besides St. John's Church, one of the "cross-tipped" churches that is here, Maria Stein is also home to the Shrine of the Holy Relics, which has beautiful park-like grounds where Jerry gave us a walking and biking tour.

St. Sebastian Church in the community of St. Sebastian, about 5 miles from Maria Stein.

Taking a rest stop in front of St. Sebastian Church.

Jerry also led us on a bike ride to nearby Grand Lake St. Mary's.  This lake is Ohio's largest inland lake and has the distinction of being the largest hand dug lake in the world.  When it was completed in 1845 it was the largest man made lake in the world, but since the advent of power equipment to accomplish such tasks there are obviously now man made lakes larger than this one.  Looking at the size of this lake (13,500 acres) it was hard to imagine that it was all dug by hand--one sign said it took about 1,700 laborers working for 8 years at a rate of 30 cents a day (and a jigger of whiskey for malaria prevention) to accomplish the task.

View across Grand Lake St. Mary's from southwestern end.

After an enjoyable visit in Maria Stein, we made the relatively short drive further north and east in Ohio and arrived in Bowling Green, Ohio, in time to spend our birthdays with Lee's brother and sister-in-law.  After a much-needed rainstorm Saturday evening and Sunday morning, we are enjoying pleasantly cool temperatures and will be doing some bike riding on roads and trails around Bowling Green.

The 2 birthday kids.  Lee is holding one of his gifts, which is a snapshot of him and his brother at a much younger age.

Goodbye to Iowa

We've spent over 6 fun-filled weeks in Iowa, but all good things must come to an end.  Today it was time to get back on the road and continue our travels.

Our departure point for leaving Iowa was a bridge crossing of the Mississippi River from Muscatine, Iowa, into Illinois.  Just after crossing the river we took a short sightseeing detour upriver to investigate the US Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam No. 16.

There we learned some of the history of the Upper Mississippi River Nine-Foot Channel Navigation Project.  In order to spur commerce on the Mississippi River in 1930, Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act that included the 9-foot channel project.  The Upper Mississippi River channel is often too shallow for a barge or boat.  The type of barge used here needs a minimum of 9 feet of water.  To achieve a 9-foot channel the Corps of Engineers built a series of 29 locks and dams on the stretch of river from St. Paul, MN, to the Southern Tip of Illinois at Cairo.  The dams form pools that make the river navigable in the shallow areas.  The locks are passageways through the dam allowing the boats to travel from one pool to the next.

Here across from Muscatine, Iowa, we were at lock 16 of the 29.  Looking downriver from the viewing platform we were able to see firsthand how the lock works as a large 15 barge tow was making its way towards the lock.

15 barge tow approaches the lock.

Tow entering the lock

Tow doesn't all fit into the lock

If we would have stayed to watch the whole process we would have been there over an hour.  A 15 barge tow is too long to fit into the lock.  When a tow of 15 barges locks through, it is required to separate and make two lockages.  The first 9 barges are locked through, pulled out and tied off to the guide wall.  Then the second half of the tow can be locked through.

And just another set of facts and figures that we learned:  If all the material (in this case, it was coal) that is being transported on a 15 barge tow were carried by train or truck it would take 240 rail cars or 1050 semi trailers to transport that much coal.  So I guess it's worth a bit of time and patience to work these barges downriver through the dams and locks.

After leaving our history lesson on the Mississippi River the rest of the day was spent grinding out the miles on a long stretch of interstate.  We are spending the night about 50 miles west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and tomorrow will continue our drive to Ohio.