Travels in 2009

It’s been almost a year since GoJoe first arrived in our driveway.  Since that time it has traveled from east to west, from Maine to southern California.  It has been a great introduction to RVing, and we anticipate many more years of adventures.  (In fact, another one is coming up soon.  Stay tuned.)

Highlights of 2009 included spending time in southern Louisiana and soaking up Cajun culture, being awe-struck by the immense outback-ness of the Big Bend in Texas, getting to know fulltime RVers in the Southwest, meeting a man who built a mountain, 4-wheeling over dunes in the desert, touring lush Balboa Park in San Diego, visiting the factory where GoJoe was built, camping in the cool quiet of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, finding out that we have a Grand Canyon here in the East, gaping at the water crashing over Niagara Falls, discovering the beauty of New York’s Adirondacks, appreciating the quaintness of small New England villages, and, best of all, catching up with old friends along the way.

Here are some photos plucked from the year’s travels:

 

More 2009 Pix

Grand Canyon (of Pennsylvania)

I picked up brother-in-law Walt at his home in Spencer, New York back in early September. We had long planned to get away for a long weekend, and GoJoe's rolling homeiness provided an extra incentive. The destination was a last-minute choice as we had neglected to call around to see where campsites might be available. But this turned out to be a good thing -- Pennsylvania's somewhat unheralded version of the Grand Canyon proved to be just the ticket. It was a remote world of steep terrain and cool green surroundings. Somehow we forgot to take pictures of each other, so these photos of what we saw will have to do.

We pulled into Leonard Harrison State Park on the canyon's rim and set up camp in the very last spot available. Shortly after, we hiked down into the canyon via a precipitous footpath marked by a number of wooden staircases and cascading waterfalls. Going down was fine, but the slow climb back up took its toll. :) At the bottom of the canyon, Pine Creek riffles along, slowly carving the canyon even deeper. The canyon floor is about 1,400 feet below the rim at it's deepest, a mere quarter the depth of the "real" Grand Canyon, but spectacular in its own way. The plush blanket of trees makes it somewhat less dramatic than its western counterpart but allows for cool forest hikes.

Walt and I spent the rest of the weekend hiking other trails, going into nearby Wellsboro (a gem of a little town worth revisiting), or sitting by our campfire, cooking meals, talking, and watching the night sky. It was a great "guys" weekend.

The Adirondacks

Driving west out of New England into upstate New York (in early September), I continued to find blue lakes and gently rolling mountain terrain.  At Lewey Lake in the Adirondacks, I was treated with this view out my back window.  What a great place to camp.