8 More States

     Over the past couple of weeks we have visited 8 more states for the first time in LesThora. We have been to some of these states in the past, but never by driving to them all the way from California. We added an outline map to the side of LesThora that we add the appropriate state's sticker to as we spend time in it. We haven't spent a lot of time in most of these states, but we have spent at least one night and hiked  or walked on at least one trail. One of the things that continues to amaze us is how quickly, often instantly, we see the change from one state to another as we pass the welcome sign and cross the state line. The map has been a conversation starter when others notice the colorful visual of where we've been.

    The picture of our U.S. map was taken before we spent time in 

Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. 

As we head west we will be crossing through fewer states than we went through going east. 

We don't plan to go further south in the east and will probably stick pretty close to the middle of the country as we make our way west.

    After leaving Maine and Scott and Kristy on Monday, August 31, we had seven days to travel through seven states before rejoining Scott and Kristy at their sail boat in Maryland. Except for the beautiful campground at Pawtuckaway Lake in New Hampshire all those stops would be at various Harvest Host locations. Harvest Hosts were the easiest to get reservations at as we moved up to and through Labor Day weekend. They were all enjoyable stays where we met interesting hosts and other campers. Thursday, September 3, after a walk through the woods on dirt roads and a trail in Rhode Island we headed into Connecticut where we found a nice hike at Day Pond State Park near Colchester before heading to Rose's Berry Farm for a beautiful and friendly place to spend the night.

    Welcome to Connecticut - notice a bit of rain on the windshield. And you may be able to see the governor's name on the state sign - that's a lot of sign changes when ever the governor changes.

A very pretty and welcoming park to take a hike and stop for lunch.

An impressive "boulder" along the trail

One of the very friendly signs at Rose's Berry Farm. It's amazing how differently we feel when signs say please and thank you rather than "No Trespassing," or "Don't do something."

    After leaving Connecticut on Friday, September 4, we entered New Jersey and found a lovely place to camp and shop by the cornfields at Donaldson Farm in Hackettstown, New Jersey. We enjoyed walking around the hilly neighborhood and noticed lots of above ground swimming pools. In retrospect we wonder how many of the those pools were newly bought this summer. Talking with fellow campers recently about the shortage of kayaks and other outdoor equipment to purchase since people are vacationing closer to home and outdoors this year they said there have been record sales of above ground pools this year too. Saturday morning we found a lovely hike to a waterfall on the Cataract Trail in Hackettstown.

New Jersey State Line

Cataract Falls, Hackettstown, New Jersey

    Though we have avoided cities on this journey, we could not avoid congested traffic during the first weeks of September, and avoiding toll routes was sometimes difficult. Scott loaned us an EZ Pass (like the FasTrak for the California Bay Area bridges) so we wouldn't have to go through the cash toll booths when we did encounter toll roads. He also warned us to stay away from parkways near New York as they often had low clearance over crossings of 8 feet. We watched for warning signs diligently, but more than once we encountered signs right at an exit that said, "No vehicles above 8 feet allowed beyond this point." Fortunately we made those necessary exits in time, but then it was confusing rerouting around those places. We were definitely happy to leave the congested traffic and confusing roads of the Atlantic coast behind this past week. Even though the states we visited before and over Labor Day weekend have high density populations and are thought of as more urban than rural, we found beautiful country settings in each of them. 

    From New Jersey we went to Delaware and then Pennsylvania and then Maryland. I realized later that it would have made more sense to go to Pennsylvania first, but we didn't add too many extra miles, and our having to retrace our steps in Delaware gave us the opportunity to stop a second time at two interesting and unique places we had discovered on the way to our Harvest Host location at TJ Smith and Sons Farm in Bridgeville, Delaware. After an hour or so of driving I start looking for spots to stop, either Googling for parks or picnic grounds nearby or using a Trails app on my phone. We found a little community park in Odessa, Delaware to stop and take a short walk. As we were about to get back in LesThora Rob noticed a blue sign across the street designating an historical location so we crossed to read it. We had "discovered" the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House, believed to be one of the smallest Quaker meeting houses in the country, and it was a stop on the Underground Railroad as escaped slaves moved north. We walked to the back of the property to look at the little brick building and the surrounding cemetery, took a couple of pictures and then drove on towards our destination. Further down the highway Rob saw a sign for a highway rest stop and we decided to check out what a Delaware rest stop was like. We've seen all kinds, from the beautiful and interesting roadside parks in Michigan to roadside parking in New York that didn't have bathrooms, picnic tables, nor any place to walk. We were in for a real treat at the Chauncey O. Simpson Memorial Rest Area at Smryna, Delaware. This Rest Area, completed in 2007 in memory of all persons killed in traffic accidents in the state of Delaware, has just about everything and anything you would want at a rest area including places to plug in an RV, recharge devices, empty sewage tanks, paths through beautiful gardens, a state of the art playground, lovely picnic grounds where families were celebrating special occasions, and not just an area to walk your dog, but a fenced in dog park. It was not just a Roadside rest area, but a destination in itself. 

    After spending Saturday night on the farm in Bridgeville we stopped again at the rest area to explore it's paths and gardens again. We also stopped in Odessa at the little Friends Meeting House again because I discovered that the picture I'd taken of the little building did not turn out well. I approached from a different direction from before and noticed another building I had not seen before. It was a church out by the street just to the left of the sign that had caught our attention the day before. It was partially obscured by overgrown vegetation and piles of cut branches. I made my way through the vegetation to discover a small bell tower with a memorial plague on it indicating this had been a United Methodist Church. I rang the bell a couple of times and felt very touched by my discovery. The old Methodist Episcopal Church is apparently no longer in operation, but the little Quaker Meeting House had signs indicating they still meet on Sunday morning. No one was around though when I was there even though it was a Sunday morning - probably due to Covid. The combination of Methodist and Quaker places of worship on the same piece of land was extra special because of our ancestry and our present affiliation. Rob's Dunning ancestors were Quakers who came to this country in the 17th century because of religious persecution in Europe. As I walked around the property that morning I thought about how the things we have "found" or discovered without planning to, have been a very sweet part of this journey. There are many more, "must see" attractions that we have neglected to even learn about, perhaps because that would be too overwhelming, but the little surprises have been deeply enriching. 

Welcome to Delaware - another sign with the Governor's name.

We "camped" behind the building to the left. The farm stand that we shopped at was across a busy highway, but we enjoyed purchasing some farm fresh produce.

We saw everything listed on the sign except for the Zoo - I don't think it exists yet.

One of the beautiful gardens at this memorial rest area

                                         

The sign that caught Rob's attention in Odessa, Delaware

The little Quaker Meeting house we "found." The cemetery is to the right and the Methodist Church is in front to the left.

Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church, later a United Methodist Church, and now unused.

The little Memorial Bell tower that I rang the bell in.

    Sunday, September 6 we entered Pennsylvania, a state that has been home to both Rob and my ancestors - Rob's in the 17th century and my father in the early 20th century. My father was born in Maryland, but by the time he was a teenager his family owned a farm on the outskirts of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania near the Daniel Boone homestead. We found a park to walk in before going to our Harvest Host location for the night. It was a beautiful county park with many more miles of trails than we were able to hike. Driving through the countryside we passed many Amish carriages and beautifully kept farms. Our "campsite" for the night would be Barefoot Acres, a two acre family farm, nestled in the midst of acres of fruit trees. It was a beautiful, serene location with wonderful hosts and friendly fellow campers. 

    On Monday morning we drove by the old farmhouse and the houses my father and some of his siblings built in what came to be known as Gollub town. My grandfather gave an acre of land to each of his 10 children and several of them built homes on those acres adjacent to the old farm house. We spent a couple of hours visiting with my cousin Esther in her home near Birdsboro. It was wonderful to see her after many years. She and her husband Jerry used to come to California to visit my father and Lake Tahoe almost every year until Jerry's death seven years ago. Esther, now 89, looks wonderful and keeps active walking her neighbors' dogs. Driving through the Pennsylvania farmland as we headed to Maryland I didn't want to leave. It was a truly beautiful and peaceful landscape - quite a contrast to the busy traffic we'd encounter when we crossed into Maryland.

Welcome to Pennsylvania! 

A beautiful park we found with the help of the All Trails app

A creek along our hike in Wolf's Hollow County Park

 

A beautiful blue butterfly in the butterfly garden in Wolf Hollow Park

One of many Amish buggies we saw on the Pennsylvania roads.

A buggy pulling horse - they move along at a pretty good clip.

Barefoot Acres. You can see Les Thora in the background, and to the right, one of the other three campers who spent the night there. The farm is aptly named as the children and father were barefoot whenever I saw them. On the side of his pickup was a quote by Khalil Gibran: "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet..."

The Gollub farmhouse in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania where my father and his ten siblings came of age. I had seen this once before some 48 years ago, but I didn't remember the rock walls. My cousin told me the previous stucco had apparently been removed. This type of rock construction was very common around the Pennsylvania countryside.

The Gollub barn

The house my father built with the help of his brothers in "Gollub Town" located across the road from the old farm house. There is evidence this house has been added on to since it was first built.

    On Monday, September 7 we entered Maryland and immediately noticed a difference in the traffic and intensity of other drivers. We were happy to arrive safely in quiet little Galesville where our Son Scott and Kristy live on their sailboat on the West River, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Our grandson Kyle is temporarily living with his parents on the boat as he waits for entry into the Army to train as a helicopter pilot. We enjoyed a week with Scott, Kristy and Kyle, eating at the restaurant Kyle is working as a server at in Galesville, playing the ubiquitous family board games, sailing overnight on "Soaring Free," and playing tourist a bit. Before heading east we had planned to spend several days with Scott so that he could fix things that we thought would need fixing on LesThora and help us make desired upgrades. As it turned out, nothing needed fixing and we're pretty much happy with everything as it is. Scott did put covers over our roof vents to prevent rain from coming in when they are open and to keep them from being blown off if we forget to close them when we hit the road. 

Welcome to Maryland

We associate William Penn and the Quakers with Pennsylvania, and the little we know about the Quaker Dunnings who immigrated to the western hemisphere is that they settled in Pennsylvania, but according to this sign William Penn was in Galesville, Maryland in 1682. 

We saw other signs in the area about William Penn.

Galesville is pretty small, with a Marina and boat works, a couple of restaurants and antique stores, a Lutheran church and a United Methodist Church. Though it's a peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay, it feels more like an island if you're a walker because of the narrow highway leading out of it to the main road. There is a two mile loop we could walk around on quiet paved roads and if you went in and out of every dead end or parking lot it was possible to make a three mile loop.

Kind of hard to get a picture of a sailboat sailing when you are on it, but here is Kristie at the helm and Kyle nearby as we sailed to our anchorage on Tuesday night.

Rob and I got up on Stand Up Paddle Boards for the first time. It took me two tries. The first one when Scott was teaching me I fell off instantly, but the second with Kristie's instructions I got up and stayed up. Rob got up on the first try, but I was steadying the board against the boat as he got on it. He also has a strong aversion to being in the water so that may have motivated him to stay balanced. He did fall off though as he attempted to get back on the boat without getting wet. It didn't really matter though, the water was totally warm. We paddled around a bit, and it's definitely a different experience than paddling a kayak. I'm not replacing my kayak with a Paddle Board.

Sunset from the boat at anchorage. On our return sail to Soaring Free's dock we had rain, but good winds.

Playing one of the many board games we shared with family. Here we are on the back of Soaring Free while it was at the dock. That's Birch Beer that Rob and I are drinking.

The boys playing a game of Risk. Rob and my brother-in-law played Risk every time we got together as family when our children were tiny. The kids watched with eagerness from the time they were toddlers, wanting to be old enough to join in the competition. Here three generations are at it.

The Dunning "Generations" team completed the challenge of getting out of a locked room within an hour. This was Rob and my first experience in an Escape Room. It was fun, but definitely challenging. 

Most of the time Rob and I were trying to figure out what was going on, but we did contribute to completing the challenge.

Here the five of us are at Annapolis where we learned about the history while participating in a "Let's Roam" scavenger hunt. 

It was fun to walk around and learn about this historic location not far from Galesville.

A part of the Appalachian Trail near Harpers Ferry that Rob and I hiked with Scott. We only hiked about 3 miles round trip, but it was definitely the up and down I associate with descriptions of this trail.

The cliff outlook over the Potomac River that was our destination on the AT hike.

Harpers Ferry was very interesting. Rob and I knew it was of historical importance, but we were pretty vague about it until spending a couple of hours here walking around this West Virginia location on a point sticking into the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. We were sure glad to not try driving LesThora through the old narrow streets of Annapolis and Harpers Ferry.

Standing on the point of Harpers Ferry, looking down the Potomac after the Shenandoah has joined it from the right.

Kyle watching Scott install the vent covers on the roof of LesThora. 

Notice our map to the right of the door.

    After our week with Scott, Kristie and Kyle we left Galesville, on Sunday, September 13. We headed across the Potomac into Virginia or our way to West Virginia where we would spend one night in the very nice Trout Pond Campground in the George Washington National Forest near Lost River and Lost City, West Virginia. Our GPS directions left us wondering if we'd get there, but we did, and all while driving on paved roads. We're never quite sure where we're headed when in a national forest. There was a trail, really more like a jeep trail going straight up the mountain, that lead up to a look out from the Blue Ridge Mountains that I hiked on Monday morning before we headed out to get to Matthews Arm Campground in Shenandoah National Park in time to snag a first come first serve campsite. As we were leaving Trout Pond we met another couple who were also leaving that morning and headed to Matthews Arm. They have been on the road since June, having left their New Jersey home to be nomads.

Crossing the Potomac. This would be the closest we would get to Washington D.C. 

You can see the Washington Monument in the background. 

We have been there several times in the past, so didn't feel any need to go there this trip.

The sign at the bottom of my Monday morning hike.

Here is proof that I made it to the top.

We are too early for the display of fall colors in the east, but we do get little glimpses, 

like these red leaves.

    We arrived at Matthews Arm Campground at Shenandoah National Park by 1:00 PM on Monday, September 14, and found many campsites to choose from. A dear friend from our Colfax days who moved to Virginia to marry her junior high sweetheart 16 years ago, many years after junior high, met us with her husband in our campsite Monday afternoon and we had a wonderful visit catching up on each other's lives. Tuesday morning we took a downhill hike from the campground to a water fall and on the way back up met the couple we had met at Trout Pond. We arranged to share a campfire with them that night and had a very enjoyable evening around the fire, sharing our current and past camping experiences. They were also long time tent campers before jumping into an RV.  Wednesday, September 16, we headed south in Shenandoah National Park, stopping at some of the many lookouts and stopping for a hike to Rose River Falls. It was a beautiful walk, down, down, down to the little river where we walked along the cascading water for two of the four mile round trip loop. After going down, down, down along the Rose River we started up, up, up, up along a tributary creek to the Rose River, culminating at Dark Hollow Falls before hiking the last mile out on a gradually uphill fire road. Wednesday night we camped at Loft Mountain Campground closer to the southern end of Shenandoah National Park. It was a beautiful time driving the Sky Line Road, camping and hiking in this park on a ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We left Shenandoah on Thursday in time to get to a KOA in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Lynchburg, Virginia, where we are spending 4 nights so we can attend the virtual annual conference of the California Nevada Conference of the UMC. On Friday, I was officially voted acceptance of my request for retirement. This conference had to be postponed from June due to Covid 19. It was certainly not the same as attending a conference in person, but all in all they did a good job of pulling it off virtually.

Welcome to Virginia!

Welcome to Shenandoah National Park

One of the overlooks from the Skyline Drive

Along the trail on one of our hikes in Shenandoah NP

Rose River

A cascade that looks like a waterfall on the tributary creek

Another beautiful cascade

Dark Hollow Falls - much more impressive than this picture shows

More pretty water

Our Campsite at Loft Mountain - we were not sure about how we'd thread our way out of this spot, but we made it just fine, by backing out the way we went in.

A deer in our campsite - the mother of three fawns

Our campsite at Lynchburg/Blue Ridge KOA where we have watched the virtual Annual Conference

Elsie looking out the window at the Marina in Galesville

Elsie exploring on leash in New Jersey

Straus relaxing on our bed

The two in a rare together pose. They are together often, just not willing to be photographed.