Spelunking in Virginia

We arrived here yesterday staying for 2 nights. The Caverns and the camp grounds are located on the same property. I took the first tour of the day, so it was a "privet" tour. Later in the day they have larger tours. It is a small cavern located in the side of the mountain. The tour took around an hour and there were 300 steps to go up and down. Part of the cave goes up 6 stories into the side of the mountain and down under the ground 10 feet. So today I was 10 feet under! I will need my Advil tonight after climbing all those steps and "Bring on the Wine!"

The drive from Hagerstown, MD to here was beautiful. We paralleled the Blue Ridge Parkway so the view was breath taking and enjoyable for the driver since we were on I-81 all the way. The camp grounds here at the caverns are reminiscent of Trailer Trash Park in GA. A lot of full time residences, pick up trucks and motor cycles. One traveling motor home has 5 dogs outside, 3 German Sheppard and 2 smaller dogs. Inside she said she had a female Shepperd with puppies. Couldn't imagine how that RV smelled. Chris wanted to say only 1 night but we stayed so I could go through the cave.

This trip has been a great experience. What a Wonderfully Beautiful County we live in. We have really enjoyed the campers we have met along the way. In Hagerstown we met two couples from Holland. They flew into NY, where they rented an RV and are traveling around for 3 weeks. They will end up in Boston where they will drop off the coach and flying home. Tomorrow we make the turn south to Charlotte, NC. Guess it is time to think about heading home. (After all there is an up coming wedding!) I see by my watch it is Wine Time!

15 Miles On The Erie Canal

Traveling from Maine through NH and VT was breath taking! The Mountain ranges are beautiful and both states are mostly forests. As we entered into NY and traveled along I-90 we ran parallel to the Erie Canal. Most of you reading this will not know the song mentioned in the title. I learned the song in grade school when we studied the Erie Canal.

We stayed at Herkimer, NY where they had a Diamond Mine that you can mine for diamonds (for a fee). Yeah, I can find enough diamonds to pay for this trip! Well, let's not hold our breath. It turns out that the diamonds are quarts and they give you a hammer to bang on rocks to find them. Where is Sandy when I need her? We met our friends Gary and Janet Townsend at the camp ground in Herkimer. They drove over from northern IN to meet us. After checking out the Diamond Mine, Janet and I decided it was more fun finding our diamonds in a jewelry store! We took a side trip into the small town of Little Falls located on the Erie Canal. The picture is of the Lock in that town.

We had lunch in a small cafe down town where Gary ordered Ham and Bean soup. Well it was a vegetable soup with beans (nothing like our ham and bean). I was going yo order a Gyro Sandwich but it was made with beef. Oh well, Janet and I ordered a salad. Gary and Janet only had a couple of days before they headed back to IN but it was fun sitting around the camp fire with them. We hope to do much more camping together if we can get Gary to retire.

After Herkimere we are headed to Batavia to visit Chris' brothers and do some golfing. I had problems with the WiFi and being able to Blog so that is why it has been some time between entries. Back soon with a posting from the Pocono Mountains.

It's Got Its Ups and Downs

What a day at Sea! We left the campground at 10:30am and caught the free bus into downtown Bar Harbor. We purchased our tickets for the Whale Watching Tour leaving at 1pm. We had lunch at a wonderful resturant on the harbor where we sat outside. For lunch we had pan roasted oysters and fish and chips made from fresh Haddock. The food was wonderful!

We sat on the dock overlooking the harbor waiting for our boat to return from the morning tour. It was late docking so we didn't leave until around 1:30pm. The water temp. was 52 and the land temp. in the high 60's. We were told to wear warm coats, hats and gloves as the sea air temp. would be between 45 - 50. Once we cleared the harbor the captain "put the medal to the pedal" to make up lost time. Outside the harbor, in the Gulf of Maine, the swells were 4-5 feet high. The best place to be on a boat in rough seas is at the back and outside in the fresh air. There were so many people sick that there was no room out back sooooo where does Chris have to sit, inside up front with several people around him using the barf bags!

I guess at this point I should tell you that I am up front loving it, as I love roller coasters and Chris does not! I love the Sea and Chris does not! (Any boat smaller than a Cruise Ship is not his "cup of tea".) Inside Chris is losing his lunch and losing his lunch and losing his lunch.

We finally get out far enough to slow down and look for Whales and we find two Humpbacks. I got a lot of great shots. We were out there a couple of hours before we headed back. The trip back took an hour but was much smoother and Chris did good with a ginger ale to help. Once we were docked Chris threatened to kiss the ground. (I don't think he will forgive me for this one!) He thought about asking the resturant for a refund but didn't think they would agree. (Lunch was not as good the second and third time around!)

Just one thing, I thought only fish were green around the gills! See you later.