New England trip report - Fall 2015
My family has made many trips out West but our last long trip together was somewhere entirely different, New England. My husband and I met up with Dad in New Jersey where we visited with a relative t...
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OCT 9
We awoke to the sound of rain drumming on the roof of our camper. Luckily our plans for the day wouldn’t be ruined by inclement weather. But first I wanted to check out a covered bridge in the park. If you look closely you can see the rain was coming down so we didn’t tarry long outside though.
Returning to the rigs, we packed up and drove south on County Road 31 which followed along the east side of Otsego Lake. At the south end of the lake is the city of Coopertown NY. I’d planned this stop for my DH, a baseball aficionado.
I dropped him off at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum then Dad and I drove up the west side of the lake to a parking area which was serviced by shuttles which ran into town. I guess during the summer it might be advantageous to use these facilities but on this wet fall day traffic wasn’t a problem and the parking lot was nearly empty. Dad and I enjoyed some quiet time as we piddled in our campers, lulled by the steady drizzle on the roofs.
The DH enjoyed the museum and even snapped a few pictures. His favorite team is the Atlanta Braves so of course he made sure he got some of their memorabilia.
After browsing through the museum, he braved the rain to walk to Doubleday Field.
When he’d seen all he wanted to see, Dad and I met him in town and we found a place to eat lunch. At the south end of Otsega Lake was a harbor and the Lakeview Restaurant. The food was good and so was the view, even with the low clouds.
With our appetites sated, we continued our travels towards home taking County Route 28 down to I-88. We were able to catch some glimpses of fall colors and the countryside through the rain and clouds.
At Binghamton NY we caught I-81 south and crossed into Pennsylvania.
When we stopped for a break, I switched vehicles and rode with Dad for a while. We had rain and clouds all the way. Toward evening, we caught a few glimpses of the sun through the clouds. Time to find a place to stop for the night.
OCT 10
We’d picked Locust Lake State Park near Mahoney City, PA, for our stop the previous night. While this is a small lake, the hilly shoreline provided a beautiful backdrop of fall color as the sun rose. I took a morning walk, enjoying the scenery, before we prepared to depart.
I practiced my editing technique with three photos to make this panorama. It came out pretty good if I may say so myself!
The night before, Dad had come over to our camper very excited. He’d noticed an attraction nearby he’d visited as a kid. So we made a short detour down US 209 south to State Route 61 south. I’d noticed homes in this area were sited close to the road even in the small towns. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was to minimize snow removal during the winter.
Another fuel stop. Diesel prices had been higher in the northeast than back in Tennessee but at least we’d had no problems finding it.
State Route 61 crossed I-78 one exit east of our destination so we had the pleasure of seeing an advertising sign for the attraction along the interstate. Then it was just a short drive down a frontage road to a nondescript building I probably would have passed by without a thought.
Inside, we bought our tickets and passed this sign to see what awaited us.
And what lay inside was a sight to see, a model railroad town covering around 6,000 square feet. The display was created by Laurence T. Gierenger who crafted the miniature items by hand until he passed away in 1963. Of course just looking at model trains would never be enough to keep little tykes interested so Gierenger set the display up with lots of buttons which they can push to run different parts of the display. Then every half hour night falls over the town, patriotic music plays, and a patriotic show of Americana is projected on the wall, then daylight returns. The display has been kept the same since the early 1960s so we were looking at the same scene Dad saw when he was a kid. It was nice to see something that has survived unchanged for 60+ years.
Of course there’s a gift shop as well and it has a good variety of old style toys and souvenirs for sell. I read recently that the aging owners’ children aren’t interested in running the facility so they’ve put it up for sale. They’re hopeful a buyer can be found who will continue to preserve this piece of Americana.
Leaving Roadside America, we took I-78 west to I-81 south. I-81 took us across the rest of Pennsylvania, through Western Maryland, through the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, and into Virginia. The slow pace we’d taken the last week or so was over and we were putting in some steady driving. But we weren’t going to make it all the way this day. We stopped just north of Stanton VA at the Shenandoah Valley Campground. It’s located a few miles west of the interstate on the Middle River and has a good amount of acreage but the sites are crowded together next to the river. We were only staying the night though so we were happy to find two adjoining sites on the river were still available. When we got to the sites we saw why they were still open, they were very short. But truck campers don’t need much room!
The campground has a number of amenities and was celebrating fall with a hay ride. Nevertheless, I’d consider it an ordinary commercial campground if it weren’t for one thing … its resident herd of free-ranging pet rabbits. There were about two dozen of them grazing in the grassy areas and wandering amongst the camp sites. Cute!
We slept to the sound of the creek running just steps from our back door. The next morning the clouds and rain were gone, replaced with clear blue skies. This was the day we were to split up, Dad heading for SC and us heading for TN. Dad packed up early and was soon on his way.
The DH and I walked around the campground. We found the primitive camping area was less crowded than the developed camping area so we’d probably opt to stay there if we ever returned. There was also a beautiful waterfall across the river from the primitive camping area.
I couldn’t resist a few more pictures of the bunnies as well. There was a pair of rabbits that were particularly interesting. One was an older rabbit and possibly blind. The other, a younger rabbit, stayed close to the older rabbit, frequently nuzzling it and eating alongside it. A loving pair, possibly mother and daughter.
Then we were on our way too. This was our last day on the road. Our trip was over. I look forward to going back sometime and to making it all the way up to the Bay of Fundy and beyond.
THE END
We awoke to the sound of rain drumming on the roof of our camper. Luckily our plans for the day wouldn’t be ruined by inclement weather. But first I wanted to check out a covered bridge in the park. If you look closely you can see the rain was coming down so we didn’t tarry long outside though.
Returning to the rigs, we packed up and drove south on County Road 31 which followed along the east side of Otsego Lake. At the south end of the lake is the city of Coopertown NY. I’d planned this stop for my DH, a baseball aficionado.
I dropped him off at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum then Dad and I drove up the west side of the lake to a parking area which was serviced by shuttles which ran into town. I guess during the summer it might be advantageous to use these facilities but on this wet fall day traffic wasn’t a problem and the parking lot was nearly empty. Dad and I enjoyed some quiet time as we piddled in our campers, lulled by the steady drizzle on the roofs.
The DH enjoyed the museum and even snapped a few pictures. His favorite team is the Atlanta Braves so of course he made sure he got some of their memorabilia.
After browsing through the museum, he braved the rain to walk to Doubleday Field.
When he’d seen all he wanted to see, Dad and I met him in town and we found a place to eat lunch. At the south end of Otsega Lake was a harbor and the Lakeview Restaurant. The food was good and so was the view, even with the low clouds.
With our appetites sated, we continued our travels towards home taking County Route 28 down to I-88. We were able to catch some glimpses of fall colors and the countryside through the rain and clouds.
At Binghamton NY we caught I-81 south and crossed into Pennsylvania.
When we stopped for a break, I switched vehicles and rode with Dad for a while. We had rain and clouds all the way. Toward evening, we caught a few glimpses of the sun through the clouds. Time to find a place to stop for the night.
OCT 10
We’d picked Locust Lake State Park near Mahoney City, PA, for our stop the previous night. While this is a small lake, the hilly shoreline provided a beautiful backdrop of fall color as the sun rose. I took a morning walk, enjoying the scenery, before we prepared to depart.
I practiced my editing technique with three photos to make this panorama. It came out pretty good if I may say so myself!
The night before, Dad had come over to our camper very excited. He’d noticed an attraction nearby he’d visited as a kid. So we made a short detour down US 209 south to State Route 61 south. I’d noticed homes in this area were sited close to the road even in the small towns. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was to minimize snow removal during the winter.
Another fuel stop. Diesel prices had been higher in the northeast than back in Tennessee but at least we’d had no problems finding it.
State Route 61 crossed I-78 one exit east of our destination so we had the pleasure of seeing an advertising sign for the attraction along the interstate. Then it was just a short drive down a frontage road to a nondescript building I probably would have passed by without a thought.
Inside, we bought our tickets and passed this sign to see what awaited us.
And what lay inside was a sight to see, a model railroad town covering around 6,000 square feet. The display was created by Laurence T. Gierenger who crafted the miniature items by hand until he passed away in 1963. Of course just looking at model trains would never be enough to keep little tykes interested so Gierenger set the display up with lots of buttons which they can push to run different parts of the display. Then every half hour night falls over the town, patriotic music plays, and a patriotic show of Americana is projected on the wall, then daylight returns. The display has been kept the same since the early 1960s so we were looking at the same scene Dad saw when he was a kid. It was nice to see something that has survived unchanged for 60+ years.
Of course there’s a gift shop as well and it has a good variety of old style toys and souvenirs for sell. I read recently that the aging owners’ children aren’t interested in running the facility so they’ve put it up for sale. They’re hopeful a buyer can be found who will continue to preserve this piece of Americana.
Leaving Roadside America, we took I-78 west to I-81 south. I-81 took us across the rest of Pennsylvania, through Western Maryland, through the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, and into Virginia. The slow pace we’d taken the last week or so was over and we were putting in some steady driving. But we weren’t going to make it all the way this day. We stopped just north of Stanton VA at the Shenandoah Valley Campground. It’s located a few miles west of the interstate on the Middle River and has a good amount of acreage but the sites are crowded together next to the river. We were only staying the night though so we were happy to find two adjoining sites on the river were still available. When we got to the sites we saw why they were still open, they were very short. But truck campers don’t need much room!
The campground has a number of amenities and was celebrating fall with a hay ride. Nevertheless, I’d consider it an ordinary commercial campground if it weren’t for one thing … its resident herd of free-ranging pet rabbits. There were about two dozen of them grazing in the grassy areas and wandering amongst the camp sites. Cute!
We slept to the sound of the creek running just steps from our back door. The next morning the clouds and rain were gone, replaced with clear blue skies. This was the day we were to split up, Dad heading for SC and us heading for TN. Dad packed up early and was soon on his way.
The DH and I walked around the campground. We found the primitive camping area was less crowded than the developed camping area so we’d probably opt to stay there if we ever returned. There was also a beautiful waterfall across the river from the primitive camping area.
I couldn’t resist a few more pictures of the bunnies as well. There was a pair of rabbits that were particularly interesting. One was an older rabbit and possibly blind. The other, a younger rabbit, stayed close to the older rabbit, frequently nuzzling it and eating alongside it. A loving pair, possibly mother and daughter.
Then we were on our way too. This was our last day on the road. Our trip was over. I look forward to going back sometime and to making it all the way up to the Bay of Fundy and beyond.
THE END
