a walk in the woods

About a month ago, I met my new international students—Isha (red), Surbhi (headband) and Lubna (blue). Well, Lubna is not really one of mine. The students that are here for one semester don't get a host family. But you can't break up the three musketeers, can you? And the one in yellow? You all know who she is. She belongs

The one in yellow? You all know who she is. She belongs to Angel and Darrell.

The day we met we planned to hike today. They have really crowded schedules. I gave them four places to pick from, they left it up to me. I discounted the Water Gap. It's busy this time of year. I had settled on Ringing Rocks.

I woke this morning and it's drizzling. It looked like it was going to pour all day. Rocks+Rain = Disaster. I needed a Plan B.

I picked three that I knew I would be able to get to without directions. Or minimal directions. And they were all near Easton, because I had to pick up the Teen.  When I picked up the three at NCC I had the directions taped to the dashboard. I told Isha to pick one. She picked Martins Creek Reserve. It's a PPL property near the nuclear power plant. (That's on the Jersey side of the river.)

It was crazy walking with this group. I thought I was easily distracted. We (okay, they) climbed on fallen trees. And under them. And over them. And made slo-mo videos on them.

They climbed on rocks. This particular one was covered with some sort of sticky bush. We had to pick stickers out of Lubna's hajib, sweater, shirt and pants.

 They climbed on the rocks in the river and the Teen took off her shoes and went in to her knees.

 It took 2 hours to walk 2 miles. When we reached the observation deck we took more pictures, danced, spun, climbed, stared at the water and all other kind of fun things.

It only took about 40 minutes to get back to the start. After lunch we headed to the playground.  They played like 5-year-olds. And made more videos including mannequin videos and slo-mo falling videos.

Miles/Steps:   About 4.5
Weather:        humid, overcast, drizzle
Wildlife:          at the one river stop, on the Jersey side, there must have been 300 geese. Large gaggles stretching for a half mile. Bizarre.
Extras:           Do you see Isha's purple shirt in the dancing photo? It's not a shirt! When she took off her sweatshirt her arms were bare. At one of the play-in-the-water stops, her arms turned purple. I asked her how she put on another shirt. She didn't. They are sleeves! Think evening gown gloves without hands. Amazing.

bethlehem south volkssport walk

Today was the Bethlehem South Volkssport walk. We picked today because the Octoberfest is happening at Arts Quest and thought it would be a win-win. Especially if members were coming up from greater Philly. Only two members came, and my niece. It was a walk for four.

On the upside, we could walk really fast. And there was minimal stopping. It was Bill's first time on the HMT. We also worked out a route that goes past the main gate of the Seel and the museum. So it was productive. 

My niece and I did the 6K, and then headed off to fourth street to paint her planter. 

I did little to no walking this week. 

Miles/Steps: About 6. That includes the walking up and down the block while painting.
Weather:      warm, overcast
Wildlife:       2 yellow jackets. They were a PIA
Extras:         My Fitbit is dying. A battery charge last maybe 3 days.

have you ever played "ticket to ride"?

Yesterday I went with my brother, his wife and her mother to Eagles Mere, Pa. That's in the Williamsport area of the state. It was part of a church group road trip, which, is funny if you really know me.

I met them at his mother-in-laws, and we drove to the church to meet the others. It's about a 3-hour drive to Eagles Mere. It's in the middle of the forest and began, as a glass manufacturing center, and eventually a resort town. Including a stint as a religious campground. I could have used more time there. I didn't get to walk to the lake, nor did I get to visit the historic village. Maybe next time I'm in that area.

The second, and key spot was the Eagles Mere Auto Museum which has an aviation museum right next door. Both are located at the airfield. You can actually buy a two-fer ticket which saves a ton of money ($6 one, $8 two).

While the others went to the museums, I hike back down the mountain to the road to take a picture of the entrance. I didn't realize how steep the hill was until I walked back up!

The auto museum had a large collection of mid-century vehicles. Mostly 50s and 60s. They had daddy's Ford Galaxy. But no Ramblers. Lots of Chevy's, some Fords. A couple muscle cars from the 70s like GTOs, and a few older including a Model T. Most restored. Some not, like the one above. They also have toy cars and Schwinn bikes. I like my cars more in the 30s and the 40s. Beautiful lines and exquisite typography.

The Eagles Mere Aviation Museum is right next door.  There were vintage bi-planes and aviation related displays. The bulk of the collegetion was in one hanger, But other hangers had exhibits as well. We also watched a few of the vintage planes fly. They are loud.

One hanger was devoted to women in early aviation. I'm guessing that is the rotating "gallery". That was pretty cool.

All the planes had exquisite typography also! I took a lot of pictures. Most of the pictures suck because the planes are so shiny ... I'm in the reflection.

In the main hanger, there was a wall of display items from aviation. Books, magazines, toys, that kind of thing. The things that I'm interested in—package design.

I'm looking and I see this game. It's from the 30s, by Parker Brothers and is called "The Flying Four: The Great International Airplain Race", and below it "The Air Mail Game".

Wait, these look very familiar. They look like "Ticket To Ride", a very popular modern board game using the railroad. It get's pretty competitive and makes winning last week's Parchesse look easy. It makes me wonder if Alan Moon saw this in a museum or an attic or yard sale and said let's make this modern! If I ever meet him, I'll ask.

All in all I walked about 3 miles. Air fields are large. Was it at exercise pace. Proabably not. But that hill was exercise!

angel, it came!

My copy of Exploring the Appalachian Trail -- Mid Atlantic States arrived the day I left for vacation.

Why did I buy that, you ask. The teen doesn't like to walk in towns. She loves to hike in the woods. And hiking the AT was on her bingo card this summer. I did one section back in July, I think, that was hard, but not too rocky. I'm looking for similar hikes, and maybe closer to the 5-6 mile range. I'm not up for 10-12 mile hikes. Or at least ones that have an "out. And frankly my knees will not handle the rockiest portions, so I'm hoping this book will help. It came highly recommended.

When I first started looking for it I went many places. I like to shop in stores and keep the locals employed.  LL Beam didn't have it. Barnes and Noble didn't have it. The Moravian Book Store didn't have it. I had to order it thru the Amazon monopoly.

Why did I need a book-book? Did you ever try to get internet or cell service in the woods?

4 -- the scenic route home

Today I headed home. I left the farm at about six and headed north. It was way to early to stop at Stratford Hall. Next time I head south it's on my to-do list.

I pretty much drove straight thru this morning -- I only stopped for gas and a snack. I really wanted to avoid the Philly traffic. Traffic was light at most places, and I was about 30 minutes outside Willmington by about 11:15. That gave me enough time to do the New Castle Volkssport walk and still beat traffic. My goal time to be thru Philly was 2 pm.

I had difficulty with the instructions to the start point. To me they weren't clear. I stopped and asked an old man and he confirmed that I guessed right. I checked in and read the first instruction. It said to leave the the start point and turn left on Delaware. I did. I was supposed to turn at a school's parking lot.

There were so many cool colonial buildings I didn't realize how far I walked. But the Delaware Bay was facing me. No school. I looked at the directions. Nothing was right. I looked at the map. I was basically doing the route BACKWARDS. That's. I am pretty sure I'm directionally challenged.

I stepped on to the bike trail, that runs along the beach. The beach was covered with a hundred or more geese. Way more than a gaggle.They sat single file.

The turn around point was the boat house. I had to take a pic of it. This blog has way too much history in this time. Had to add a little art.

This is the oldest building in New Castle. I wanted to go in. But it, along with the other museums were not open. It was probably better, since I needed to get out of Philly before rush hour.

And I did it. I missed all the traffic. To reward myself I got off the Turnpike in Lansdale and went to the Wissihickon Green Ribbon Trail and did another walk. I did about 3 miles. One section of the trail was covered with shells and nuts. I'm not sure what kind. I thought maybe black walnuts, but there were no green casings. It was hard to walk on them.

After I returned to the turnpike and forgot I was now heading north. As I turned into the southbound lane I realized I was wrong and it was too late.  Crap. The first exit was in Plymouth Meeting. A mecca for shopping centers and office buildings. I was headed back to Philly. Just in time for rush hour.

Miles/Steps: About 6. Not bad since I spent 8 hours in a car
Weather:      gorgeous
Wildlife:       more than a gaggle of geese. There must have been over 100.
Extras:         At Jo's I've been sleeping on the couch. There are also three cats in the house and they all have distinct personalities. Dobby is the lover. He was always trying to get into bed with me. He's also a roamer. Jumping up and down off furniture all night. Rita is the quite one. She loves to be petted. And Arabella is the spy. The cat tower is right next to the couch and she sits on the highest perch and stares down at me. I think secretly that she's really a softie. Just noisy.

3 - a day at the beach ... and a battlefield

Like yesterday, we headed out for a walk in the woods. It didn't last long. Once we reached the swamp, we heard a man-made call of some sort. The hunting dogs would surely follow. We headed back to the house.

After breakfast we got in the truck and headed to Yorktown. Jo and her husband lived nearby before moving to the farm. They know the area well.

It's about an hours drive from the farm to Yorktown. We parked near the people beach, and walked Luna over to the dog beach. The dog beach is actually nicer than the people one because it's filled with broken shells, seaweed, and things of that nature. Things that should be on a beach.

Then we took the Tobacco Trail up to the Visitors Center and saw three doe next to the trail. (They must be used to people because they didn't run. Even though we had Luna with us.) After I signed in for the Volkssport walk, we headed out thru Historic Yorktown, and back to the beach.

Then we walked the River Trail to the Museum of the American Revolution, past the barriers in the reeds set by the British to keep the colonists away. I can't remember the name.

On the way back we saw this Dutch windmill. Why it's there, I'm clueless.

This is the cave that they house Cornwallis after his capture.

Then it was back to the beach to watch the water and the boats. There were even people in bathing suits swimming.

Upon returning to the farm, we drug some chairs out by the chicken coop and watched the "chicken Ballet". It was a day of slow "television". And another cutthroat game of Parcheesi.

Miles/Steps: About 5
Weather:      gorgeous
Wildlife :      three doe, a minimum of three dolphins. They are kind-of hard to count. It didn't appear to be a whole pod.Extras :        Near Jo's house, there was a dead carcas and vultures were all over it like a cheap suit. There was always birds of prey in the area. Then one took off and it was an eagle.
 

2 - president jefferson

Today wJo and I went to a speech by the president of the United States—Thomas Jefferson. Anything is possible in Virginia, as long as you are at Colonial Williamsburg.

The day began and ended with a walk in the woods. The first was on my their property. We took the Luna. Her husband has cleared trails thru the woods to the swamp. He has also cleared an area for future guests to pitch a tent, including lawn chairs and a fire pit.

When we returned, we packed lunch and headed to Colonial Williamsburg. Our first stop was the Best Western to sign into the Volkssport walk. But instead of walking from the hotel to CW, we drove and parked the car in one of the lots. You can walk the colonial area free, but if you want to go inside anywhere you need a ticket. Since Jo works at CW, so she had a pass for me. It said “Employee Guest” on it. She acted as my personal docent. She knows a lot about all the buildings and the people from working there. 

We did a portion of the Volkssport official walk on the William and Mary campus and found a great bridge and dell. We stayed on campus for an organ recital on a period organ. It was informative. The organist was a professor.  I know know the origin of "tell-tale". We planned to see the president at 2, but the organ recital ended early, so we were able to see the president speak in the morning. When we arrived it was packed, but we managed to find seats. It was a great speech. Sometimes it was difficult to tell whether he was speaking about the revolution or the present. . The man is an orator. He even dealt with the train passing thru. Something that was not around in his day. I’m told that this the best of the  “old” Jeffersons. They also have a “young” version. (This hold true for many of the founding fathers.)

We walked a lot. We were up and down the main streets numerous times. After Jefferson we went to the print shop where he was printing on a Gutenberg-style press (top). After lunch we followed the Junior Fife Core down the middle of the street to the Governor’s palace. The final program was a storytelling event. You hear the back story of the interpreters.  Ours was a house slave —Eve. OMG it was sad. 

Then it was off to the museum and the insane asylum. Yes, the entrances are thru the same door.

On the way home I saw  sign for the Wahrani Trail, so we stopped. Jo's husband had been there with the dog on a number of occasions. It is a natural trail and had a solar powered outhouse with a composting toilet! Yes, I did check. We didn’t walk far on the trail, just enough to know it’s natural. Not quite as natural as the ones at her house, but close. And it’s well marked.  Maybe next time.

 My old school game.

The modern game. Blue is elephants, yellow camels and green water buffalos.

After dinner we played a rousing game — actually two — of Parcheesi. It had plastic animals that didn’t stand well instead of the pawns. But the colors were the same. Since I always take yellow I had “camels”.Her husband won both. Jo took the elephants and her husband the tigers. It went quickly because there was only three animals in play. The second round her husband took the the water buffalos as well. It was ruthless. We weren't really sure it would end. We set a quit time. It did end with Jo's husband winning.

Miles/Steps: Not quite 8 with the three events
Weather:      gorgeous