Pennsylvania

Our route through Pennsylvania.

A stop in the Allegheny National Forest near Tionesta.

Phil--no shadow today, just drizzle at the Visitors Center.

Entrance to the state park that borders the

 eastern portion of the Grand Canyon

of Pennsylvania.  

The eastern side of PA's Grand Canyon.

About 1400' down.

The western side of the Grand Canyon. 

 We saved this side for a nice hike down.

Turkey path to the bottom.  One mile down and six up!

Ready!

Beautiful sites on the hike.

At the bottom, in Pine Creek, adding a rock to the cairn.

Back up.

Pretty steep.

Our RV site in Thousand Trails Hershey.

We finally got to play a little pickleball. 

 Keith watches as Judy steps into the volley.

A summertime treat after a hard game.

Yoga at our site.

Roots flea/farm/everything market.

We bought a dressed rabbit for the grill.

Tasty, tender, and lean white meat.

It went well with fresh green beans,

 corn on the cob, and tomatoes.

I think we are eating VERY well.

Grilling fresh foods.

We thought that we or you might 

like to duplicate this garden.

Eight foot tall tomato plants!  Yum.

A chocolate tour in the world's sweetest place.

We enjoyed a nice treat after the tour.

Hershey's is the world's largest chocolate factory.

  There really is not a tour of the factory anymore,

 but a "Disney type" ride and explanation

 of the manufacturing process.

Milton Hershey School built in 1909 and still going strong.

Go Trojans.

View of Hershey from the practice soccer field.

Next to the high school is the Hershey Hotel, built in 1939.  

 We self-toured the building and enjoyed

 shopping the lobby retail outlets.

One last stop before heading south through Maryland

 to Virginia and Chesapeake Bay Thousand Trails.

James Buchanan was our 15th President, 

and some say he was responsible for the Civil War.

Ohio

Our route in Ohio.

Thousand Trails Wilmington and a cook out.

Go figure, but in the middle of Clinton County,

 is the world's largest horseshoe crab! 

 We had to go see for ourselves.

Dennis and Sharon Miller.

Phil and the pups at their home in Eaton.

  We met Phil and Sharon at Lazy Days RV in 2004

 when we bought  nearly identical motor homes. 

We have traded visits since.

  They both play a mean game of euchre.

Charles Young Buffalo Soldier National Monument,

our 322nd official National Park Service area visited.

http://www.nps.gov/chyo/index.htm

Corn and beans everywhere.

  This is a great summer for crops here and we have been taking advantage

 of it by eating terrific  local produce from apples to zucchini.

David Berger National Memorial (#323)

David was one of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered

 at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

http://www.nps.gov/dabe/index.htm

Thousand Trails Kenisee Lake in Ashtabula County

 (northeastern Ohio).

Great site, park, and entertainment.  

All of the locations we toured from here are

 part of the Western Reserve.

That portion of the country was once part of Connecticut 

(from King Charles)

 and extended to the Pacific Ocean.

  After the Revolutionary War, CT ceded most of the land

 to the US, but kept the lake front property that includes Cleveland.

The National Park Service is considering making the area a 

National Heritage Area.

There are lots of covered bridges in the county to find and view.

We saw about half of them.

We made sure to see the USA's smallest in Geneva.

One with an accessible river to wade.

And the USA's longest in Plymouth Center.

It was dedicated in 2008, has a 613 foot span, is 93 feet

 above the Ashtabula River, and has a life expectancy of 100 years.

In the Ashtabula River.

At the marina in Conneaut with the lighthouse

 at the harbor's entrance.

In Lake Erie at a Conneaut Township park.

Ashtabula lighthouse at the harbor entrance. 

Lakeshore Park Pavilion.  Largest on the lake.

 It was empty this week day, but a return trip for a

 sunset found the park full of classic cars and people.

Ashtabula lift bridge and harbor.

James A. Garfield's birthplace in Moreland Hills.

He was the last of the "log cabin" presidents.

The cabin and this statue are on the

 grounds of the local police department.

James Garfield's memorial and tomb is in

 Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

This Memorial is the tallest one for all of the presidents, but not the largest.

  That largest is Grant's tomb.

http://www.presidentsusa.net/garfieldtomb.html

View from second floor balcony.

McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center in Niles.

http://www.mckinley.lib.oh.us/ 

National McKinley Memorial, Museum, and Free Public Library.

The docent from the birthplace walked us from the birthplace, 

opened the door, then left us on our own to tour the museum.

http://www.mckinley.lib.oh.us/index.php/index2

Warren, Ohio area.  Home of the Packard, millionaires row,

 and just up the road, the first Civil War memorial. 

As the sun sinks slowly in the west, we head east toward the

 Allegheny National Recreation Area (http://www.fs.usda.gov/allegheny), 

the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania,

 and Hershey Thousand Trails.