MacDonalds Wi Fi Again
Cheryl: It’s 4:40 on Friday afternoon and Frank is asleep on the couch with his “Used-to-be-Bad” jacket draped across his torso, his boots off and deposited precariously at the end of the couch, and my blue shawl over his face. It’s warm enough this afternoon to have the air conditioner humming and the puppies are asleep in their beds. I must admit to just waking up from a nap myself. Finally we’ve had time to unwind and get some rest after traveling all the way across country in eight travel days.
Frank decided we needed to do something for all the people in RVs who show up at the rally expecting a nice place to park their rigs. We once again investigated the facilities at Blackthorn resort, the site of the rally. Convinced that there are only three sites with full hook-ups and maybe five sites with water, power, but no sewer, we began our tour of the area’s campgrounds, so those arriving will have alternatives. We visited Brookstone, Rip Van Winkle, Whip O Will, and will include the one where we’re currently parked, Blue Mountain RV. Frank has collected GPS coordinates and miles from the central rally site at Blackthorn for each of the other RV parks. He has also drawn a map with each of the sites pinpointed on it. When we find a printer to use with our computer, he will print a comprehensive list of places for people to park their rigs that can be handed out to rally participants when they arrive. While Blackthorn has at least 100 RV sites, all but the eight we found are inhabited by seasonal park rigs.
Our tour of campgrounds took most of the morning, and we stopped to eat lunch at the Log Cabin Café. The food was tasty and the young couple who own this sweet little place were delightful. The owner/cook helped Frank with his mapping project, while his wife and I talked about the restoration they did at the “log cabin” when they bought it in 2003. This place is so inviting down to the stained glass chandeliers, the restroom featuring two tree limbs leaned in a corner with decorative little owls perched on them, and a soap dispenser shaped like a pinecone that squirts heavenly smelling soap. And talk about clean, this place is immaculate! The Log Cabin Café is also a New York deli with ham, roast beef, cheeses, and luscious pieces of pie occupying their display case. This little place gave us good reason to upgrade our opinion of this exclusive resort area with its winding tree-lined roadways and thriving venues. We’ve seen some “estates” in the woods here that are right out of some gothic novel, impressive and palatial.
Tomorrow, Saturday, we’re moving to the Rip Van Winkle RV Park where they have WiFi and lovely wooded campsites. The young host has been working at this family-owned campground since he was a boy when it belonged to his grandfather, who opened it in 1962. It’s an excellent place to stay with a swimming pool, swimming hole in the creek, a fishing lake and trails through the forest. We’ve finally found our home for the week and, Greg and Betty, you can relax because we won’t be there early after all!
More Norton Empire Rally news as it happens. Please stay with us, surely something exciting is bound to happen sooner or later. Remember, you read it here first!
Love, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and the Press Pups
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Erie to Catskill at Last!
We found a WiFi location at MacDonalds:
Cheryl: We woke up this morning at 6:40 a.m. rather than our usual 5:30 a.m. so our day got off to a bit of a slow start. However, we were out on the highway cruising along by 8:45 a.m. Things went really, really well as we drove through lush hills covered with thick trees and crossed creeks, rivers, and lakes. This was a ride we were really enjoying until we hit a patch of very bumpy road. We decided that New York State has some of the smoothest and some of the worst roads in the whole U.S. We got “beat to death” over several stretches until we vowed to cross New York off our map right along with Oklahoma and Indiana. Anyway, we survived and then the real adventure began.
The GPS took us on a tour of the Catskill mountains’ back roads for at least a couple of hours. We were up, down, around terrific curves and blind “head walls.” You’ll know what that looks like if you’re a skier. Ok, so we finally drug into East Durham, which wasn’t on the map at all along with several roads we drove on to get there. We pulled into the Blackthorn Campground where there were Irish people and more Irish people all over the place, backing up, backing in, and strolling about in all directions on foot and in cars! It was a madhouse of blarney! It is also Irish Arts Week at the resort. Sigh. Ok, so we have nothing against the Irish, in fact, I have ancestors of that persuasion. However, when Frank came back to the car with instructions to drive around until he spotted a campsite with full hook ups and then grab it, I knew we were in trouble.
Eventually after a precarious backing up and turning around procedure, Frank had a heart to heart talk with the office manager. Subsequently he road around in a golf cart looking over the available spaces. None of the spaces proved to be anywhere we wanted to spend a whole week.
Down the road we went at 7:00 p.m. to find the Blue Mountain Campground where we’re checked in for the next two nights at least. The tall trees are wonderful, but the mosquitoes are as big as Howard Hughes, Spruce Goose airplane. We’ve been almost carried off to the big mosquito blood-letting station in the sky. Tomorrow we look around for better accommodations, and Frank’s brother’s place in Virginia is looking very appealing for an early arrival at this point.
Oh yes, and we have no WiFi so this will be posted a bit late, I’m afraid.
Love, Daniel Boon and the bewildered three
Cheryl: We woke up this morning at 6:40 a.m. rather than our usual 5:30 a.m. so our day got off to a bit of a slow start. However, we were out on the highway cruising along by 8:45 a.m. Things went really, really well as we drove through lush hills covered with thick trees and crossed creeks, rivers, and lakes. This was a ride we were really enjoying until we hit a patch of very bumpy road. We decided that New York State has some of the smoothest and some of the worst roads in the whole U.S. We got “beat to death” over several stretches until we vowed to cross New York off our map right along with Oklahoma and Indiana. Anyway, we survived and then the real adventure began.
The GPS took us on a tour of the Catskill mountains’ back roads for at least a couple of hours. We were up, down, around terrific curves and blind “head walls.” You’ll know what that looks like if you’re a skier. Ok, so we finally drug into East Durham, which wasn’t on the map at all along with several roads we drove on to get there. We pulled into the Blackthorn Campground where there were Irish people and more Irish people all over the place, backing up, backing in, and strolling about in all directions on foot and in cars! It was a madhouse of blarney! It is also Irish Arts Week at the resort. Sigh. Ok, so we have nothing against the Irish, in fact, I have ancestors of that persuasion. However, when Frank came back to the car with instructions to drive around until he spotted a campsite with full hook ups and then grab it, I knew we were in trouble.
Eventually after a precarious backing up and turning around procedure, Frank had a heart to heart talk with the office manager. Subsequently he road around in a golf cart looking over the available spaces. None of the spaces proved to be anywhere we wanted to spend a whole week.
Down the road we went at 7:00 p.m. to find the Blue Mountain Campground where we’re checked in for the next two nights at least. The tall trees are wonderful, but the mosquitoes are as big as Howard Hughes, Spruce Goose airplane. We’ve been almost carried off to the big mosquito blood-letting station in the sky. Tomorrow we look around for better accommodations, and Frank’s brother’s place in Virginia is looking very appealing for an early arrival at this point.
Oh yes, and we have no WiFi so this will be posted a bit late, I’m afraid.
Love, Daniel Boon and the bewildered three
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Frank: Here's a photo I forgot to upload.
Cheryl: We're in Erie, Pennsylvania, and it's breezy and warm, but not hot and not humid. We've landed at another top-notch KOA. There is a big catch-and-release pond here with a grassy lawn surrounding it. There are little cabins tucked in the woods around the pond along with tent-camping places. The pool is heated and sits next to a large pavilion where they have activities for kids. It is obvious there are many locals here enjoying their resort-style-stay-at-home vacations. Our spot has a concrete pad along with a round table with chairs, a shade umbrella and a gas grill. Gosh, this is the ticket!
I'm going to go stake out an Adirondack chair by the lake and read my book. The puppies will go along. Frank graciously grabbed the laundry and struck out for the washing machines housed close by. We're both tired tonight, but looking forward to reaching our destination in the Catskills tomorrow after about a 6 1/2 hour ride. We're arriving a whole day early! Great planning and no backing up so far. We've had pull through spots to park every night, and I've know where my pillow would be each night as well. I'm a very happy camper.
Be sure to look at the airplane pictures Frank posted.
Love, Cheryl, Frank and the puppies
Cheryl: We're in Erie, Pennsylvania, and it's breezy and warm, but not hot and not humid. We've landed at another top-notch KOA. There is a big catch-and-release pond here with a grassy lawn surrounding it. There are little cabins tucked in the woods around the pond along with tent-camping places. The pool is heated and sits next to a large pavilion where they have activities for kids. It is obvious there are many locals here enjoying their resort-style-stay-at-home vacations. Our spot has a concrete pad along with a round table with chairs, a shade umbrella and a gas grill. Gosh, this is the ticket!I'm going to go stake out an Adirondack chair by the lake and read my book. The puppies will go along. Frank graciously grabbed the laundry and struck out for the washing machines housed close by. We're both tired tonight, but looking forward to reaching our destination in the Catskills tomorrow after about a 6 1/2 hour ride. We're arriving a whole day early! Great planning and no backing up so far. We've had pull through spots to park every night, and I've know where my pillow would be each night as well. I'm a very happy camper.
Be sure to look at the airplane pictures Frank posted.
Love, Cheryl, Frank and the puppies
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Silver Birds
Cheryl: The puppies had a rough time last evening because we had lots of very determined thunder followed by an equally loud downpour. Peanut jumped in the bathtub while Cleo snuggled up between Frank and me on the couch. Both of them were panting as if they’d run the race of their lives. This went on for over an hour, so they were both worn out today. That worked out well for us since today was our day at Wright Patterson Air Base and the Air Force Museum, while the puppies kept each other company in the trailer.
The museum is off base, but we signed up to ride a bus over to the base and spend an hour looking at test planes and presidential planes. The security to get on base was well executed. We all had to show ID and they gave us wrist bands with numbers on them. They also wrote down our names and addresses. We were counted when we got on the bus and counted when we got back on the bus after touring the two big hangers on base. Each time we had to show our number wrist band and be checked off the master list. I thought the whole process was very efficient.
Frank will tell you all about the “rare birds” he loved seeing. I enjoyed the Disney display and learned that Disney created insignias for the military during WWII. Then, I loved watching some of the Bob Hope USO shows and seeing pictures of the celebrities who served like Clark Gable and Glen Miller. I felt especially privileged to climb aboard the Air Force One plane on which Jackie Kennedy stood beside Lyndon Johnson as he was sworn in as President after John Kennedy was assassinated. I can’t imagine how she felt standing next to a man she didn’t admire (to say the least), while knowing her husband lay dead in the cargo hold below her. I didn’t know that President Kennedy had his presidential plane painted blue rather than the traditional white. He wanted it to be distinctive, and it certainly is.
We also walked through the Columbine II that served while Dwight Eisenhower was president. His wife named the plane after the state flower of Colorado, her adopted home state. I’m so glad we’re preserving all this history for our descendants. I was struck by the number of wars Frank and I have lived to witness: born at the end of WWII, then Korea, Vietnam, Iraq-twice, and Afghanistan. I’m sure I’ve left our some conflicts as well. Yet, we’ve been for the most part bystanders as our little worlds have been kept safe and free by those who served. God bless them all!
Frank: Airplane overload. Way too much to absorb! It would take days (or maybe a lifetime) to fully appreciate the width and breadth of this magnificent collection of aircraft. My favorites are two aircraft at opposite ends of the size spectrum but linked together by necessity. The larger is the B-36, a huge 6 prop, 4 jet strategic nuclear bomber behemoth capable of flying 6000 miles unrefueled (no in-flight refueling capability). The smaller is the XF-85 Goblin a sub-miniature fighter designed to be attached to the B-36 and dropped (and retrieved) in flight. Its job was to fend off any enemy fighters that might endanger the bomber.
See
http://air-and-space.com/peacemkr.htm
and
http://air-and-space.com/goblins.htm
for some info on the two planes.
It’s 10PM and I turned into a pumpkin about an hour ago so I will post photos tomorrow. I think.
Camp On!
Frank, Cheryl, Peanut & Cleo
The museum is off base, but we signed up to ride a bus over to the base and spend an hour looking at test planes and presidential planes. The security to get on base was well executed. We all had to show ID and they gave us wrist bands with numbers on them. They also wrote down our names and addresses. We were counted when we got on the bus and counted when we got back on the bus after touring the two big hangers on base. Each time we had to show our number wrist band and be checked off the master list. I thought the whole process was very efficient.
Frank will tell you all about the “rare birds” he loved seeing. I enjoyed the Disney display and learned that Disney created insignias for the military during WWII. Then, I loved watching some of the Bob Hope USO shows and seeing pictures of the celebrities who served like Clark Gable and Glen Miller. I felt especially privileged to climb aboard the Air Force One plane on which Jackie Kennedy stood beside Lyndon Johnson as he was sworn in as President after John Kennedy was assassinated. I can’t imagine how she felt standing next to a man she didn’t admire (to say the least), while knowing her husband lay dead in the cargo hold below her. I didn’t know that President Kennedy had his presidential plane painted blue rather than the traditional white. He wanted it to be distinctive, and it certainly is.
We also walked through the Columbine II that served while Dwight Eisenhower was president. His wife named the plane after the state flower of Colorado, her adopted home state. I’m so glad we’re preserving all this history for our descendants. I was struck by the number of wars Frank and I have lived to witness: born at the end of WWII, then Korea, Vietnam, Iraq-twice, and Afghanistan. I’m sure I’ve left our some conflicts as well. Yet, we’ve been for the most part bystanders as our little worlds have been kept safe and free by those who served. God bless them all!
Frank: Airplane overload. Way too much to absorb! It would take days (or maybe a lifetime) to fully appreciate the width and breadth of this magnificent collection of aircraft. My favorites are two aircraft at opposite ends of the size spectrum but linked together by necessity. The larger is the B-36, a huge 6 prop, 4 jet strategic nuclear bomber behemoth capable of flying 6000 miles unrefueled (no in-flight refueling capability). The smaller is the XF-85 Goblin a sub-miniature fighter designed to be attached to the B-36 and dropped (and retrieved) in flight. Its job was to fend off any enemy fighters that might endanger the bomber.
See
http://air-and-space.com/peacemkr.htm
and
http://air-and-space.com/goblins.htm
for some info on the two planes.
It’s 10PM and I turned into a pumpkin about an hour ago so I will post photos tomorrow. I think.
Camp On!
Frank, Cheryl, Peanut & Cleo
Monday, July 11, 2011
It's the destination . . .
Cheryl: and NOT the ride this time.
We’ve finally escaped the awful heat and humidity of Missouri and Illinois. We cut across Illinois and Indiana and into Ohio today where we’ve landed in Brookville, Ohio, at an awesome KOA Campground with acres of RV sites along with a fishing lake, volleyball courts, putting green, playgrounds and trails. We’re in a lovely wooded spot and will be here for two nights, so we can visit the Air Force Museum all day tomorrow. It promises to be a lovely cool evening here, and we plan to take a stroll around the grounds as the sun goes down.
It looks like we figured our six hours per day travel time just about right as we’ve checked the GPS for miles to go, and we’ll easily make our July 15 first night reserved at the rally RV Campground in the Catskills. The rally doesn’t start until Monday, July 18, so we should be well settled in by that time. It will be great to stay in one spot for over a week after this mad dash of “one-night stands” across country. I’m getting worn out with travel, and I know Frank has to be weary of all this driving. I sure hope the weather in New York is cool and breezy! Phoenix heat doesn’t seem so unreasonable after what we’ve just driven through!
I brought along some frozen entrees as quick meals, but last evening we enjoyed pork chops, potatoes and carrots cooked in our little George Foreman cooker. Also, in the last three days we’ve polished off a small pound cake and a Sara Lee coffee cake. Didn’t someone, somewhere one time say it’s ok to eat dessert when on vacation? I’m pretty sure I read that in some credible source book.
We miss all of you and would love hearing from you either by email or through the comments feature on blogspot.com (it’s a little tiny link below each posting).
Frank: Odd observations:
1. Most of the big trucks now have the new streamlined, aerodynamic bodies. They are very good looking with sloped hoods, small frontal areas, headlights molded into the fenders, and shielding all over the parts that used to stick out and catch the wind. I’d say 80% of the trucks are new style and 20% are the old Peterbuilt and Freightliner styles with the massive radiators, headlights on stalks, and big ominous unibrow sun visors over the windshields.
2. In 2008 we drove from Phoenix to Pennsylvania and in doing so travelled through Oklahoma. Rt. 40 through Oklahoma was soooooo bad we ended up blacking out the whole state in our atlas and swearing to never set wheel in it again. This evening I just did the same thing to Indiana. If this keeps up we will run out of ways to get back east. In a nutshell, Rt. 70 in Indiana west of Indianapolis and east of Indianapolis is horrible, as in “beat you to death horrible.” I watched in awe as even the big trucks swerved and dodged the potholes along the edge of the road. But around Indianapolis the road is wonderful and there are some beautiful new intersections being built. I think all of their highway maintenance money is going into those projects.
3. The truck and trailer have a “sweet spot” at about 62-63 mph. Above that it gets a little squirrely. At that speed I get 9 mpg. I could get more if I dropped back to 55-60 mph but the speed limits on I-70 tend to run 70-75 mph and I hate to be an even bigger roadblock than I am now. I could also get better mileage if I used the cruise control but it can’t plan ahead when a hill is coming up and add on a few mph and I hate to have the truck bog down and then shift down and over-rev the engine trying to maintain headway.
4. Today we passed a sign for a “Corvette and VW” museum. Now that’s an interesting combination. I swear a body could make it a lifetime objective to see all the strange little museums in this country. It would be fun. Sort of like that “White Castle” movie.
That’s it. Tomorrow is a full day at the Air Force Museum. I plan to be really tired tomorrow night.
Don't forget, click on the photo for a full screen version.
Lots of Love from:
The intrepid four.
We’ve finally escaped the awful heat and humidity of Missouri and Illinois. We cut across Illinois and Indiana and into Ohio today where we’ve landed in Brookville, Ohio, at an awesome KOA Campground with acres of RV sites along with a fishing lake, volleyball courts, putting green, playgrounds and trails. We’re in a lovely wooded spot and will be here for two nights, so we can visit the Air Force Museum all day tomorrow. It promises to be a lovely cool evening here, and we plan to take a stroll around the grounds as the sun goes down.
It looks like we figured our six hours per day travel time just about right as we’ve checked the GPS for miles to go, and we’ll easily make our July 15 first night reserved at the rally RV Campground in the Catskills. The rally doesn’t start until Monday, July 18, so we should be well settled in by that time. It will be great to stay in one spot for over a week after this mad dash of “one-night stands” across country. I’m getting worn out with travel, and I know Frank has to be weary of all this driving. I sure hope the weather in New York is cool and breezy! Phoenix heat doesn’t seem so unreasonable after what we’ve just driven through!
I brought along some frozen entrees as quick meals, but last evening we enjoyed pork chops, potatoes and carrots cooked in our little George Foreman cooker. Also, in the last three days we’ve polished off a small pound cake and a Sara Lee coffee cake. Didn’t someone, somewhere one time say it’s ok to eat dessert when on vacation? I’m pretty sure I read that in some credible source book.
We miss all of you and would love hearing from you either by email or through the comments feature on blogspot.com (it’s a little tiny link below each posting).Frank: Odd observations:
1. Most of the big trucks now have the new streamlined, aerodynamic bodies. They are very good looking with sloped hoods, small frontal areas, headlights molded into the fenders, and shielding all over the parts that used to stick out and catch the wind. I’d say 80% of the trucks are new style and 20% are the old Peterbuilt and Freightliner styles with the massive radiators, headlights on stalks, and big ominous unibrow sun visors over the windshields.
2. In 2008 we drove from Phoenix to Pennsylvania and in doing so travelled through Oklahoma. Rt. 40 through Oklahoma was soooooo bad we ended up blacking out the whole state in our atlas and swearing to never set wheel in it again. This evening I just did the same thing to Indiana. If this keeps up we will run out of ways to get back east. In a nutshell, Rt. 70 in Indiana west of Indianapolis and east of Indianapolis is horrible, as in “beat you to death horrible.” I watched in awe as even the big trucks swerved and dodged the potholes along the edge of the road. But around Indianapolis the road is wonderful and there are some beautiful new intersections being built. I think all of their highway maintenance money is going into those projects.
3. The truck and trailer have a “sweet spot” at about 62-63 mph. Above that it gets a little squirrely. At that speed I get 9 mpg. I could get more if I dropped back to 55-60 mph but the speed limits on I-70 tend to run 70-75 mph and I hate to be an even bigger roadblock than I am now. I could also get better mileage if I used the cruise control but it can’t plan ahead when a hill is coming up and add on a few mph and I hate to have the truck bog down and then shift down and over-rev the engine trying to maintain headway.
4. Today we passed a sign for a “Corvette and VW” museum. Now that’s an interesting combination. I swear a body could make it a lifetime objective to see all the strange little museums in this country. It would be fun. Sort of like that “White Castle” movie.
That’s it. Tomorrow is a full day at the Air Force Museum. I plan to be really tired tomorrow night.
Don't forget, click on the photo for a full screen version.
Lots of Love from:
The intrepid four.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 5. Mulberry Grove
Frank: We are in Mulberry Grove, Illinois, about 30 miles east of St. Louis. Last night we were in Topeka, Kansas at the Cement City RV Park. It was actually the Deer Creek RV Park, but Cement City seems a better description. It is very nice but very austere. The story is that it was built by a guy who owns a cement contracting business and who has a brother who owns a cement factory. So he very cleverly designed it to be minimum maintenance required. All the roads are cement, all the pads are cement, all the pads are sized for big class A’s, and all the grass areas are borderless. There are no trees to be maintained or mowed around, and all the utilities are in a neat, above ground white pedestal. The grass is cut with a big tractor dragging a huge mower blade and the roads and pads are vacuumed with a sweeper truck. The only drawback to the design is the lack of shade, but that only affects the clients and we are transients anyway.
Today’s drive was easy, we just mainline east on I-70. We pulled over a few times to walk the dogs, and stopped at a nice rest area in Missouri to make lunch. I have to say that Missouri has really nice rest areas!
Tomorrow should be an easy day of about 4-5 hours. We are going to stop in Dayton, Ohio and spend the next day at the Air Force Museum. I last saw the museum back in about 1972 when I made my very first cross-country motorcycle tour on my 1970 Triumph Chopper. I expect it will be like déjà-vu all over again.
Cheryl: I’m too tired to be perky and creative so I will write something later or maybe tomorrow.
Today’s drive was easy, we just mainline east on I-70. We pulled over a few times to walk the dogs, and stopped at a nice rest area in Missouri to make lunch. I have to say that Missouri has really nice rest areas!
Tomorrow should be an easy day of about 4-5 hours. We are going to stop in Dayton, Ohio and spend the next day at the Air Force Museum. I last saw the museum back in about 1972 when I made my very first cross-country motorcycle tour on my 1970 Triumph Chopper. I expect it will be like déjà-vu all over again.
Cheryl: I’m too tired to be perky and creative so I will write something later or maybe tomorrow.
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