Day 84 - Adios Pennsylvania and your bridges

I can’t begin to tell you how much we love Pennsylvania. Having said that, let me explain why. If we had spent more time in the cities likely we would not have felt the same way. Had we traveled more Interstates and major highways, we would not likely have felt the same way. Chasing the covered bridges of Pennsylvania seemed to be akin to a ticket to Paradise.

Oh...I almost forgot. Chasing the bridges in the wee morning hours allowed us to matriculate with lots of deer and even a black bear. What fun!

The images that follow will hopefully share a tenth of the sense of awe and wonder we felt while exploring a great percentage of this state. If Pennsylvania were a clock, essentially we’ve seen it all from about 1:00 clockwise to 8:00. And most of that we’ve seen from the backest of back roads - amazing!!  The following snaps are a paltry accounting of our quest for the bridges.

Typical PA backroads scene

 As I've mentioned before, the small towns almost seem to be afterthoughts or necessities

This scene is not atypical of life in PA. Here...rural = typical it seems.

We're getting close to the next bridge find...

The countryside is neat and proper

Won't be long now

Throughout the last two days I searched for a scene that just says, "Pennsylvania." I concluded that's just not possible.

If I were asked to compile a list of terms that describe Pennsylvania and the countryside it might include: craftsmanship, comfortable, satisfied, unpretentious, proper, genuine, pristine, enduring.

I suppose we have been touring through the Allegheny Mountains. They're ever-present. It is unusual to see a house that is built on flat ground. Most seem to have been carefully sculpted into a hillside. When you see a neighborhood you don't see fences, but you do see expansive yards with freshly mowed lawns. You don't see  lot of "new" things. Barns and silos, both of which are ever-present, let you know they have been there for years...AND...they will be there for years to come.

While we will not likely ever find a place like Fink Farm or Rocky Hill Farm in Pennsylvania, I suspect we will plan another trip to this beautiful state very soon.

Here then are the pictures of the last two bridges we found on our ride from Harrisburg to Washington, PA. Enjoy!!

One of many beautiful old barn structures

The end!

Day 83 - Bridging the Gap

Today will go down in Burton travel history as one of the best ever! Months ago we decided that visiting the covered bridges of Pennsylvania would be a part of the trip no matter what. Little did we know what an adventure that would turn out to be. First and foremost, you don’t see almost 20 bridges and not see much of Pennsylvania. What a gorgeous state!! It has it’s own pristinely rural flavor. Farms and neighborhoods stand erect as if to say; “Everything’s just fine here…thank you very much.

Here's our route!

Every bridge trip should begin with a stop to wait for cows to cross the street!!

Now for some serious navigating!!

The cities and towns are another story altogether. It’s as if the farms and communities are somewhat self-sufficient and don’t demand a lot from their neighboring towns. Most of the PA cities we’ve been through are "ho-hum" at best. The Pennsylvania countryside, on the other hand, is almost beyond compare.

Pure Pennsylvania - Norman Rockwell gorgeous! Even the clouds were strategically placed.

Typical Pennsylvania

With respect to the bridges…well…I hope you like barn red. With few exceptions, that could be renamed, “Bridge Red.” The handsome remnants are charming and make you feel all warm inside. Like the proverbial “box of chocolates,” you never know what you’re gonna get. Some are quite noble and still in day-to-day use. Others are like zoo animals and are filled with benches for picnics and parties. Some are just plain run-down! All were worth it just to give us an excuse to ride around on some of the most primitively interesting roads we’ve ever traveled. Suddenly, t’s quite clear why a Jeep is a handy vehicle to have in your arsenal. In our case, it’s our entire 4-wheel arsenal.

Serious farm country

Today we saw our very first, "Guard Rooster."

Hey...if you live next to a covered bridge, you'd better spruce up...right?

So here’s the deal with the pictures: 1) there’s a lot of them, 2) it’s hard to make 432 red bridges look different, 3) we don’t do selfies because we figure you know what we look like and you’d rather see where we’ve been than just us smiling 899 times, 4) as always, you can click on any pic to see it larger than life (most look better that way), and 5) you can quit at any time. We did strive for some variety, but then again, most are pictures of 100+ year old bridges. Today's camera, BTW, was exclusively the Canon 7D.

The end

Tomorrow we head for far west Pennsylvania, Washington, PA to be exact. Along the way we’ll pick up one or two more of the most famous ones.

As for you guys, with few exceptions, you haven’t been doing your jobs. We’d like to hear from you and know what you’re doing. Hey…this is a two way street here!

Enjoy!!

Day 81 - Back on the Road

We headed out early this morning (before 7AM). As we made our last trip down Abbeyville Rd, there was a friendly fauna there to tell us goodbye and safe travels. We'll miss Lake Placid. Again...thanks Beth for introducing us to this magical world. Camp Placidmere "rules!"

Mother Nature says goodbye...

We spent a leisurely day driving east and making one last ferry crossing of Lake Champlain. It was a cool 37 degrees this morning, but it warmed up nicely for a great day of Jeep cruising with the windows down. Lizzy's travel plan had us heading east for one last trip through Vermont. We passed through Rutland where we enjoyed a walk down memory lane. In Rutland is the Norman Rockwell Museum. Therein are originals and copies of every illustration the man ever created. My goodness, he must have never slept. Endless walls of drawings from Boy's Life, Outdoor Gentleman, Niblets Corn and, of course, The Saturday Evening Post. It's incredible how many of his pictures from an era before we were born were so familiar. The man defines prolific!

From there we headed a bit east to Woodstock, VT where we ate at the #1 rated venue, The Woodstock Farmers Market...whoa! Nuff said!!

Our journey ended in Brattleboro. No sooner had we stopped than Lizzy had us headed for the Grafton Cheese Market. Has anyone ever heard of Vermont Cheese? Well, let me tell ya', you ain't lived until you savored a few nibbles of some of the tastiest cheese north of the Mason Dixon Line. The sun shines just a little brighter on this sacred spot.

Definitely made a purchase here!

From there we headed to the Connecticut River and a little pub on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. It is so "on the border" there's a line painted on the floor inside across which you can cross, and re-cross, and re-cross, and re-cross...  Of course, some of their local IPA makes the journey make a bit more sense. Outside on the deck overlooking the Connecticut River is the place to be for an early dinner.

Hey! A gal's gotta eat somewhere...

...might as well be here!

Cool Bridge, huh?

While tomorrow is basically another travel day, we will see the first two of many covered bridges yet to come; one is in Massachusetts and the other in Connecticut. Then it's on to Pennsylvania where covered bridges rule. With almost 200, no other states comes close. We will only see a few, but we have plans to catch half of the most picturesque and famous ones. Can't wait!

Stay tuned!!

Day 80 -Adios Lake Placid

Where's Eddie the Eagle??

Hard to believe it’s time to say goodbye to Camp Lake Placid. It wasn’t even on our list of places to see, but it's certainly on our list of places to which we’ll return. It’s really hard to describe a phrase you’ve heard all your life, like: “Upstate New York.” But once you’re here, you recognize it deserves its own moniker just like: West Coast or Deep South! It’s such a beautiful area, lush and green and mountainous. The mountains are tree covered, but nonetheless, there’s no mistaking them for the hills in the “Hill Country” of Texas. These guys are legit!

We arose with the sun (5AM up here) and lollygaged around not wanting to start the packing and exiting process. We took a final drive downtown and then decided you can't visit Lake Placid without paying homage to the Olympics of both 1932 and 1980. And what better place to do that than at the Ski Jump Hill. Why, you could just close your eyes and picture Eddie The Eagle soaring through the New York skies.

While we finish tidying up around here, why don’t you visit the spectacular engineering feat that is the Lake Placid Ski Jump site!

From the base looking up...

From the top looking down

From afar

Better stick that landing!

Enough already!

Impressive engineering feat

Little brother

 The Twin Towers

Half way down - nice view.

Oh…by the way…where are we headed next? Well, we’ve heard there are some cool covered bridges sprinkled throughout Pennsylvania. That just happens to be on our way to northern Michigan where we’ll meet up with youngest son, Jordan and his bride-to-be, Amanda. Lotsa fun times ahead! Stay tuned…