Paula Hays
Bob and I have used this blog site for the past two years and thought it worked well. I found it easier to send the photos and descriptions on the fly, using this blog site, than sending emails as I had done the previous 8 years of travel. Also, it gives the recipients more leeway in that they don't need to open each one; they can catch up on all of the blogs when they have some time. Or they can unsubscribe if they wish.paulahays
A bit more background: Bob and I have been traveling with our RV (we're on our second) for the past 10 years. This year we're coming up on close to 100,000 miles, and that's a lot of traveling. We've been back and forth across the US several time and have seen every contiguous state but one (North Dakota). We've also been all over Canada except the most northern parts. That includes four trips to the Maritimes and a trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. As you can see, we love to travel. We're also a good pair as we both want to see every nook and cranny of interest where ever we go. We love interesting, unusual stuff -- which abounds if one looks hard enough.
We used to travel in a tiny little 17' RV, a Casita, but when we added our two youngest cats to our trips (the 2 older ones stay at home), we could see we needed a somewhat larger camper. So for the past two years we have travelled in our 21' Bigfoot and it's been quite luxurious. (The Bigfoot is made in western Canada.)
This summer / fall we're heading off to Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, then on to Canada (our sixth trip there), then Maine -- and then we'll see . . .
Travel Blog Posts
Resurrection of a company town -- Cass, WV
Published: December 20th 2011North America » United States » West Virginia
December 20th 2011
The rise, fall and rise again of Cass, WV, is a good story. At least it made Bob and me feel good. I'll tell you a short version of the story, some of which is lifted and modified from their web site. The town, started in 1900, was built to house employees of the WV Pulp and Paper Company and the people constructing and employeed by the railroad -- which had a number of names. The lumber mill operation was enormous during its heyday 1908 to 1922. At its peak, West Virginia Pulp and Paper employed between 2,500 and 3,000 men. In an average week six to 10 carloads of food and supplies traveled over the railroad to 12 logging camps. The story of the mill is also a story of the rails that linked that ... read more
Odds and ends from trip
Published: December 10th 2011North America » United States » Florida » St Petersburg
December 10th 2011
Here are a few odds and ends from our trip. You might note that one of the "sea things" had a little help from man. These were on the beach at Grand Manon Island. There's one blog yet to come -- the restoration of Cass, the old lumber / railroad town in West Virginia. Paula... read more
Ohiopyle State Park, PA and Kentuck Knob Wright House
Published: December 6th 2011North America » United States » Pennsylvania » Fayetteville
November 29th 2011
Hi, All -- After we left Bob's sisters around Lancaster, PA, we drove on to Ohiopyle State Park, also in PA. This park is renowned along the eastern US for its great whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River (or the "Yo"). We've been rafting on the Yough before, but this time we just biked for a couple of hours. There's a bike path right along the river which goes on for miles and miles. (See last four photos.) While there, we visited the Frank Lloyd Wright home, Kentuck Knob, just a short distance away. The Hagans, of the well known Hagan Ice Cream Company, were friends of the owners of Fallingwater which was only 7 miles away, and decided they wanted their very own Wright home. Wright, who was 86 at the time and involved in ... read more
Green Bank Radio Observatory
Published: November 22nd 2011North America » United States » West Virginia
November 22nd 2011
Our next adventure was to see again the world’s largest movable structure located in a ten mile radius called the “quiet zone” – no cell phones, no TV, no garage door openers, in fact. Want to guess where we might be? ___________________________________________________ We were at The Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia, part of the National Science Foundation; there’s a second observatory in New Mexico. The Green Bank site has the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope and the world’s largest land-based movable structure. Even though it’s as large as two football fields, it can be moved by increments no wider than a hair. This telescope sits in the US National Radio Quiet Zone, a ten-mile radius in which no radio transmissions are allowed so that ... read more
Gettysburg National Military Park
Published: November 16th 2011North America » United States » Pennsylvania » Gettysburg
November 16th 2011
Bob and I find Gettysburg to be a magical place -- sad, yes, but also so peaceful (ironically) and serene and beautiful that we keep going back to this place again and again. We were in Gettysburg this past spring and sent you all several photos from there. The photos in this blog are from a different segment of the park and some of the monuments I had never seen before even though this was my fifth visit. Bob has been many more times than I as he's from Pennsylvania. This visit to the Park, we arrived in late afternoon and were able to stay until sunset. That's when tranquility truly reigns. From Wikipedia: "In 2008, the Gettysburg National Military Park had 1,320 monuments, 410 cannon, 148 historic buildings, and 41 miles of roads, and lanes; ... read more
Brass-era autos and an old time trolley
Published: November 3rd 2011North America » United States » Florida » Gulfport
November 2nd 2011
Hello All – This first group of photos were taken at the Seal Cove Auto Museum on Mt. Desert Island, ME, which is home to most of Acadia National Park. If you look at a map of Mt. Desert, you’ll see that it’s about one-half the park and one-half privately owned land. There’s quite a story behind how this came to be, a little of which I shared with you in my last blog. The Seal Cove Auto Museum was on the map we were given by the NPS although there was no description and nothing written up in any of the literature we gathered. But since we were in the area, we decided to check it out. The Museum is a bit hard to find and is housed in a modest metal structure. But inside ... read more
Cass Scenic Railroad & Fall Leaves
Published: October 14th 2011North America » United States » North Carolina » Bryson City
October 13th 2011
The past four days we have been overwhelmed with stunningly beautiful sights of fall leaves in full glowing color and I’m itching to share them. So I’m going to skip over a few blogs you’ll be getting letter -- a museum of antique brass trimmed cars outside Acadia Nat’l Park; a trolley ride in Steamtown, Stanton, PA; some new shots of Gettysburg; the Wright home Kentuck Knob outside Ohiopyle State Park, PA; the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory; and the recently restored lumber town of Cass, the last two both in West Virginia. In Cass we were at the very peak of the fall leaves. Since then there have been a couple of storms which have blown off a lot of the leaves, and we’re now considerably south of WV so the leaves haven’t reached ... read more
Acadia National Park and Deer Isle
Published: October 7th 2011North America » United States » Maine » Bar Harbor
October 6th 2011
Hi All -- Early this afternoon Bob and I left his sister Judy’s house and headed to Gettysburg where we are right now. But, since I’ve fallen behind on these blogs, the following photos are from our three-day stay last weekend in Acadia National Park, including a trip to Deer Isle nearby. We visited Acadia last fall for six days and found it to be irresistible. So we couldn’t resist coming again this year. This visit the weather was calm with not much wind so we don’t get the dramatic photos that we were able to take last year with huge plumes of water as the waves hit the rocks. But it’s an awesome and magnificent place even without the drama. Following is a description from the official government website of the interesting history of the ... read more
Again -- back in the US
Published: October 5th 2011North America » United States » Maine » Bar Harbor
October 5th 2011
Hi! I'm resending the photos from the last blog so that you can open them. I was in a hurry to get this out yesterday and forgot to re-save each photo in a much smaller size. I did that this morning so that you should be able to open these photos much more easily. Each blog takes between 2 -3 hours -- selecting the photos and editing them, writing the narrative, then sending them via the internet which takes around 1/2 hour if it's a good connection. We have a hard time getting a decent WiFi connection on these trips and usually when we do it's for a very limited time. So sometimes, in my rush, I screw up. Sorry. Paula ... read more
back in the good old US
Published: October 5th 2011North America » United States » Maine » Bar Harbor
October 4th 2011
Hi, All – We’re now in PA visiting Bob’s sisters for a couple of days. Unfortunately, Bob now has a severe case of shingles which has been coming on for a couple of weeks. In fact, the doctor he saw this morning thinks he should be in the hospital right now getting some steroid shots to build up his immune system so that he can recover from this before permanent damage is done to his body. We have 10 days left before returning home. I just hope, for Bob’s sake, that these days are completely stress free. He’s in severe pain right now. Anyway, to continue with our trip . . . The following photos go back about a week, beginning with the day we left Grand Manan Island on a ferry and drove to St. ... read more
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