Green is a HAPPY color!

06/10/09
What a wonderful time we had at Shenango. It was really quiet and beautiful, as is all the COE parks. We went into town and got Nan a fishin license and a pole and worms. She fished all day on Wednesday and caught a few catfish. Well, I helped, but as usual I just sat there and told her what to do!!!! Sound familiar??? LOL. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to troll so I hooked up her kayak to the back of mine, she got her pole set up and I paddled her around the lake and she fished!! What a site. Wished I could have gotten a pic, however, it was a bit difficult for me to get a pic of me AND her AND Trav in the kayaks. But we had a ball, and I got a lot of exercise in while she sat back and enjoyed being catered to! It was quite a site too! She did catch a catfish, course, all she had were worms to fish with, but it was fun and it was great to be out on the water in the sun surrounded by trees and water and happy! We decided to stay there til it rained again, which wasn't too long after that, but there were a bunch of kids and rug rats that camped next to us, which wasn't all that close, but the crying got to us pretty quick. So we took off for another COE campground which was only 1 ½ hours away. HA! It took us 3 ½ hours to get there cause we had to cross a railroad track and every time we came up on it, we couldn't get across because the bridges were too low! Good thing we had a gps because we were zigzagging all over the place, got onto some pretty questionable roads, and saw places we never would have seen even if we were on back roads!!! finally, we found a bridge over instead of a tunnel, so we held our breath and went across. It had a weight limit and we weren't sure about it. But we made it safely and headed to the campground. Another wonderful place to be. Teeny town in northern PA that is on the Allegheny River.


Tionesta, PA

We will stay here til we get our mail and then head to Niagara Falls. Nan is really excited about staying there, we will stay at a casino parking lot. Those are her favorite campgrounds. We took a long drive thru the Allegheny National Forrest yesterday and it was fantastic, gorgeous, beautiful, I keep running out of words to describe everywhere we have been and are going. I have found that inner peace again, something I had when I was in the mountains when we lived in Colorado. Didn't think I'd feel that again, but it's back and I am sooooooooo content, I just can't get over it. Nan and I are having a great time together and we are enjoying every minute of this trip. It's something we both have dreamed of forever. We keep looking at each other and saying we can't believe it. Our dream trip! It's been perfect!!! except for a few little glitches in the beginning, nothing could beat this. Anyway, back to the blog. On our ride yesterday, we found a couple of campgrounds that were really perfect. One of them only had about 25 spaces, only pit toilets and fire rings, but $5/nite and in the middle of NOWHERE!!! big spaces for the rig, in the trees. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Then further on, we found another small campground. The kind we always dreamed of. Large spaces, a creek running right thru some of the spaces, no civilization around, the kind of place I could spend a long time at. Well, I kept figuring and figuring and plotting, and thinking, and finally decided I could get the rig into it if we went str8 into the cg to a space that was large and right on the creek, but I'd have to cut down a tree to do it. If the trees weren't quite so low, I could do it. Course, I'd have to back out cause there ain't no way to turn that sucker around. One of the spots was also on the creek, but it was quite a turn to get into it and I don't think we could have done it within a few hours of backing and going forward an inch at a time to finagle into it. Getting out would have been worse. So, I just dreamed of us being there and gave up the idea of trying it. Nan wasn't all too sure I'd give up the idea at all! Last nite, for some reason, I was able to get a great fire going and sat out by the fire til late last nite. Why don't you join us and close your eyes.....oh, wait, don't close them, then you can't watch the video, close your mind, imagine total quite, serene atmosphere, the beauty of the outdoors, sit back and relax and have a moment with us as we share this moment with you.......

I took video's of it and plan on looping the video for a 30 min video to put on the TV when we want to camp back in Arizona. That will go along with the transparency pictures I intend on printing and putting on each of the windows in the rig to have the forest feel in AJ. Well, you all, that is enuf happiness for one post. I'm sure there will be much much more happy as we continue on our trek thru this fabulous country.

GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN SMILES!!!

05/20/09
Today, we picked a road and headed west. Nan didn't want to go any further north because it is still a bit cool and we wanted to wait a bit so it would warm up. So we headed for West Virginia. Everyone kept telling us how beautiful it was so we decided to check it out. We came to a Costco, oh, how wonderful, Nan was soooooo happy, she was ecstatic about shopping for meat there. We went in and she had her fill, quite enuf as far as I was concerned. Anyway, we got back on the road and again headed west.

When we got to Shenandoah National Park, I was interested to see if there was a visitors center where we could park the rig and drive the car over the Skyline Drive. We had planned on staying at a Wal Mart but when we got to the gate, they had room for us in the campground and they said we could stay for a few days. We were concerned about taking the rig on the parkway, but the ranger said it was no problem as long as we were under 12'8”. YEAHHHHHH! We are 12', so we headed south along the parkway. How fantastic! It is absolutely gorgeous. The trees look like it's a woolly blanket lying over the hills and meadows. We got to the campground and found us a spot that is truly magnificent. It's so quiet here, you don't even want to talk. I immediately gathered kindling and wood for a fire, but alas, my pyro nature has abandoned me and it went out as soon as the kindling burned. Guess the logs were either too big, too little, too wet or something, cause it sure wasn't MY fault it didn't burn!!!
Took Trav for a long walk thru the campground and the views are fabulous. We are going to lay back and slug tomorrow, then drive the parkway for another 30 miles before we get off and head west again to a Corps of Engineers park at Sutton Lake. We'll stop at a few Wal-marts on the way so we don't get there before Monday. All the weekender's will be gone by then and we should be able to get a good spot. Hopefully we will be able to stay for a week or so and get to kayak some. Being a Corps park, we will be able to camp for half price.
Well, enuf for today, more later........
05/21/09
What an awesome day. We got up this morning to absolute quite and only the birds. After our coffee, we changed and headed out to find a waterfall. When we found the trail, we started out. Str8 down!! we kept thinking we could make it, after all, it was only a mile. We came across a ranger about half way and he told us it wasn't too far from there. So, we decided to go ahead. It was still str8 down. We started wondering if we would make it back up. There were more and more rocks in the path and it was getting a bit hard to keep our footing. After all, we are neither one of us in shape. Any shape!! After another while we decided to turn around and head back. Guess what! It was str8 UP!! all the way back, no break, str8 up!!!!

we stopped and stopped and stopped and finally made it back to the car. We were both ex 'HILL' erated!! We decided to try a drive along the skyway for a bit, just to see what we already went past without stopping. It was magnificent! After our drive, we came back to the rig and I started picking up kindling again. I'm gonna have a fire tonite if I have to hold a lighter in the ring!! We're leaving tomorrow, :( but just to find another road. I'm hoping we end up near a lake and a Corps park. Will stay in Wal-mart for a couple of nites tho til after the weekend.
Oh how sweet the quiet!!!
5/25/09
We left Big Meadows CG and picked a road and headed west! Didn't have much of a destination in mind but knew there was a Corps of Engineers park west of us. We drove thru George Washington National Forrest. Isn't GREEN a wonderful color??

We just kept smiling all the way, that is, until I pulled out to let some other cars go by and started sliding sideways, HOLY SHIT!!! Thank Goddess we had a bit of room so I was able to turn into the slide and got us level again. Dang, was that a scary thing. I could feel us going. Didn't know if I could get us out of it or not. Whew. Nan almost wet her pants, but she's a woos anyway, I on the other hand, was quite cool and collected----HA!!! We sat there for a bit and caught our breath and let our hearts get back to normal. When I pulled out, we were kicking gravel the whole way. I didn't realize that the surface had just been graveled and it wasn't packed down, AT ALL!! And there was quite a slope. I could see the slope but tried to stay just off the road and not get into the steep stuff. NOT! Didn't have a choice where we went. Thankfully, we made it thru and were able to enjoy the rest of the drive thru the National Forrest. A bit later, we pulled out onto a large pullout and ate lunch along a lazy flowing river. It was fantastic!
We were just lazing it and came to a Wal-mart and decided to stay for the nite. It was still early, but Nan needed to refill a Rx so we just decided to hang out there. It was still Memorial Day weekend and we weren't in any hurry.
We rose the next morning and slugged around for a while then decided to again head west. We knew there were at least 3 Wal-marts along the path, so we just took our time and enjoyed the scenery. We went thru the Monongahela National Forrest and a number of mountain passes. There wasn't much traffic, so we went slow and enjoyed the ride. When we came to the first Wal-mart, it was way too early to stop, so we kept on going. The next Wal-mart was just a half hour away from there, so we kept on. I have a database that escapees puts out that people write in where there are places to boondock. When I looked up one that was on the way to the COE park, it said that the cg was small but that if it was full, we might be able to stay in the parking lot. So we headed there. Little did we know it was on a lake, small but beautiful. When I went to ask about spots, lo and behold, they had an open space! We were able to pull in and with Nan's card, it was only $10 a nite. We were amazed at how pretty the campground was and how quiet it was with all the people around. We decided to take a drive to see what the COE cg was like on the lake we were going to try to get into after the weekend. It was quite a lot farther than we thought and it was pretty, but very large, right on a river that was about 50yds across. When we returned to Rivers Run cg, we decided that we were very happy where we were and loved the space we were in. We are staying here for at least a week and maybe 2.

We don't want to push it too much to get north if it is going to still be cold and rainy. We were given a whole load of wood by a guy who was leaving so we collected that, and now we can even have fires, that is if I can remember how to build one. After 3 tries, I finally got flame, and it is so sweet! We tried to get some fishing licenses, but the cost is pretty prohibitive for an non-resident so we'll have to think about it a bit more. Maybe we can get one for Nan. She really likes to fish and I can play in the kayak while she fishes. We'll just sit back and do whatever comes to mind. Oh, how I love retirement! Debi, just a few more days and you are with the elite crowd!!
06/01/09
The campground was great, but the rain made for a pretty soggy time. We didn't get a chance to get out and kayak because every time the sun came out, it only took about 5 or 10 minutes before it started raining again. Needless to say, both of us were pretty tired of the rain and gave up and headed north. We found another corps park at another lake, north of Pittsburgh and south of Erie. We got here and decided to give it a week. If the sun comes out, we'll stay another week, if not, we're outta here! Dang, does it rain like this ALL THE TIME???? everyone says no, but I'm beginning to wonder.
We are in a camp spot that has it's own little beach. A great place to leave the kayaks down by the water instead of carrying them on the car somewhere to put in or take out. I LOVE it. Now if the Goddess does her part, we'll be in hog heaven. As of right now, we can't get satellite, but maybe when it clears up. It started raining just after we set up! I'm hoping it will clear up by tomorrow. Actually I'm PRAYING it clears up!
Still no Internet, but am going into Hermitage to try to get a signal in order to load the blog and pics, maybe pay some bills. Hopefully, I can get it all done today. Will give it a try anyway.
Everyone take care, hugs to all.............

P.S. i can't upload any pics right now, not sure why, but I will put some pics on next time I can.