Four Paws Kingdom and TCT Rally

     The final leg of this summer's trip is to be a stop over in NC at Four Paws Kingdom campground a campground dedicated to dogs and their humans who happen to drive them around, lookout for their welfare and pick up their poop, amongst other things.  The reason I found this particular campground was because of a Tin Can Tourist rally, a rally for vintage RVs which I signed up for.  The CG has just 40 sites all with full hook up, super clean rest rooms and showers and 8 off leash dog parks, 2 for agility work, 1 with a pond, 1 with a creek, a small dog park and a big dog park and a few other free run. The CG is run by Lucy and Belle and their humans and a few workampers.  On Saturday night they had a German October Fest party, beer, wine, food and fun.  One game was to push a tennis ball up your partner's one pant leg and down the other as fast a you can.  This was a fun game to watch. Another was a nail driving contest and a pretzel fishing match.  I participated and won the pretzel fishing. Would have rather have Cindy push a tennis ball in my pants.   The dogs that afternoon got to do wiener fishing aka sausage bobbing and Luna won the small dog heat, chow hound that she is.
      The Tin Can Tourist rally featured many restored and original trailers and 1 bus.  Cool to see the pain staking work that went into some of these units. Too many to post pics of them all but check out the few here.  Of course many were decorated in their period but I didn't decorate ours being i could not think of anything remarkable from 1995 that i brought with us or could have bought. Anyway 95 isn't considered "vintage"
    Now we're home and playing catch up on bills, weeds, shopping and the like.  While we were away lightning struck the big live oak west of our house and blew the circuits in the office along with Deb's computers.  I checked the breakers but the receptacles in that room are still dead.  The lightning blew off not only bark from the tree but chunks of wood, so it must have made a hell of a boom. We did manage a side trip to Chimney Rock and Luna went all the way up and down on her little legs,2480 ft.

Back to the weeds, and hope those of you whom have followed this blog enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed sharing.

Grand Canyon of the East

Being in the wilderness has it's advantages being without technology as you get left alone to enjoy said wilderness without cell phones ringing or having to check email, face book and the like.  On the flip side you can't call anyone, send email or post on face book either.  That is why BLOG posts don't come regularly, and I actually have to read back blogs to see where I left off.  How quickly the past becomes a distant memory.
     Any way the next stop on the summer trip as referred by some fellow campers was the Grand Canyon of the East in NY.  The PA. Grand Canyon was more of a grand valley compared to this one in Letchworth State Park where the 14,000 acre park was donated to the state of NY by William Pryor Letchworth.  His home is now is now the B&B and restaurant The Glen Iris.  The canyon is carved by the Genesee River and 3 dramatic waterfalls, one of which is 107 feet high, make it one of the most notable examples of waterfall scenery in the Eastern US. A hundreds of feet high railroad bridge, which will be torn down but still used today gave me a perch to get the rainbow in the falls picture.  Of course there were signs advising not to go up there but to me was an invitation to do just that.  There are 66 miles of hiking trails through out the park and a trike ride on the twisty hilly road to the falls was both fun and challenging.  The camp ground was nice with 30 amp. service, and there are cabins to rent, river rafting, and hot air balloon rides.  Not a place to hurry through.
     Now back at my sisters place in Canonsburg Pa. and heading out today for the final leg of this trip to 4 Paws Kingdom Campground in Rutherfordton NC. where it's all about the dogs, for a Tin Can Tourist Rally featuring older restored campers, the vehicles not the people, and then the haul ass home to be open for the annual Withlacoochee trail ride and Bikes and BBQ in beautiful down town Floral City.  

     This trip has been a blast with mostly great weather, and some of the nicest people we've had the pleasure of meeting along the trails we've ridden and the campgrounds we've stayed. Hope to see many of you again in Fl this winter.  Happy traveling, happy trails to you.

Pa. Grand Canyon & Erie Canal Trails

     Sorry so long since last post but being in the boonies as we were a lot didn't lend well to wifi or cell phone service.  Gosh most people up in this part of Pa. still have land lines and there are pay phones just about in every town general store.  We settled in to Pettecote Junction Campground in Cedar Run near the Pa. Grand Canyon and managed to cop a electric site due to a cancellation after only one night boon docking.  Here the Pine Creek trail is 61 miles long, crushed rock through stunning scenery, with little villages and towns along the way. We found a farmer in Wellsboro who sells pasture fed beef and another guy just 5 miles down the road from the camp who sells free range eggs.  So we've been eating primal and clean.  A storm blew through and brought the creek up enough to enable us to get in a kayak paddle, so we took the van south, dropped it at Slate Run, pedaled the trikes back to camp got in the kayaks and paddled down stream with the current with small rapids thrown in for fun.  Stayed through Labor Day and then lit out for New York and the Erie Canal trail. Got a pull through site at Red Rock Ponds Camping Resort.  There are lots of ponds where they quarried for the red rock in the 1800s that is seen on lots of buildings in this area.  Luna has met a friend by the name of Diesel and he is said to be Chihuahua/Corgi mix, and if they could both be let off leash would have a ball juking and cutting chasing each other around. She also met another Chihuahua named Mikey who is so very cute.  This trail is crushed rock until it gets closer to Rochester then we hear it's paved, but haven't ridden that part yet.  We're here till Friday when we'll head south to Alfred to Peter Stull,  The Bicycle Man Shop for a recumbent rally and ride.  Hope to hook up with Bryan Ball sometime this week and will see him at Pete's.  Made a Trader Joe's run today as it was rainy and there was a huge Wegman's store in the same complex.   A monster grocery store on the scope of the GIANT Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh. Hoping the weather clears up tomorrow so we can explore more of this trail and places like Holley Falls. Read a really good book I saw reviewed in a newspaper in Wellsboro Pa.  It's by David Rosenfeld, "Dogtripping".  Very funny true story about a couple who rescue Golden Retrievers mostly and take a trip x country with 25 dogs. Read it in 2 days! Met a guy throwing a stick into the canal for his golden to fetch. Couldn't tell if he said he was 99 or the dog was 9 but his name is George Foster and the dog is Max. Lovin' this cool weather, see ya!

 
                  

Oil Creek Trail

     After a steady rain last night which put out our camp fire but not before the chicken breast was cooked, and a relaxing evening in camp we woke to drive the short distance to the Oil Creek Trail.  Everything was wet and a little slick in places but that just adds to the fun factor when riding a trike.  Nicely shaded some curves and slight ups and downs, mostly down on the way back which is the way I prefer but the trail is only @ 10 miles anyway.  It pretty much follows Oil Creek crossing a bridge or two and ends up at the Drake Well that started the petroleum boom.  Along the way there were many wild flowers and some delicious thimble berries.  It was hard to just ride and not stop to pick and eat which we had to finally say ride on, don't look.  Now in Oil City at "Spilling the Beans" coffee shop since there is no wi fi or cell service at the camp ground.  Tomorrow is laundry and farmers market day in Franklin so we wont be on the bikes. Maybe a bit of mt. biking on the trails in the park.  They were just groomed for a race last week so sounds like fun to me. Just noticed Aug. 27th on placard and that is the day we were there. 

Back to Pa.

     After lots of thoughts of where to go next we dicided to stick with the original plan and head for all the trails in Northern Pa, the Oil City, Allegheny River Valley, and Sandy Creek, pronounced "crik" here in Pa.  As happens every year, leaving Bass Lake CG and yellow Springs area and all the familiar trails around there is a little melancholy, but we're ready to move on down the road. Got a good early start for Two Mile Run County Park in Franklin Pa. but was delayed by a tire blowout on our Airstream.  Road construction had us running down what was once the shoulder or breakdown lane where the right front tire must have picked up something which cut it and caused a delaminating of the outer casing which started flapping against the side of the trailer.  Glad I caught it in time before it tore anything up.  Pulled off to the side to change the tire, dropped and installed the spare as a Ohio State Trooper, Chris Dunn stopped to offer assistance with lights flashing to aid in our safety on the side of I-71.  Of course the spare was low in air so a bicycle pump was employed along with Officer Dunn's, Cindy's, and myself arm power managed to get the tire at 60 lbs. to gets us down the road to Wally World to purchase a new Chinese tire.  Akron Oh. used to be a tire manufacturing area but now everything has been out sourced to China.  I bought a lug wrench back when I bought my first car and still have it and used it to chance the trailer tire.  Bought it a K Mart when such things could be had made in USA.   You can really reef on this wrench without it bending.
     After a bumpy ride getting to 2 Mile County Park CG we got a spacious site in the woods with full hook ups in a very nice park about 8 miles from the Allegheny Valley Trail System which encompasses 3 interconnected trails, all paved except for some short sections where connected.  From Sandy Creek to Allegheny there is a pair of 65 stairs to carry a bike down or up.  These are some of the most scenic trails we've ever ridden.  It's a shame there isn't a campground on one of these trails so we didn't have to drive the 8 miles or more as yesterday to get to Foxbourg to ride the South end of the Allegheny.  There was 2 tunnels on this section of trail which required lights to see since the tunnels curve and it's pitch black for about 1/2 mile.  Also many sections to get off the trail and play in the river which we did and little Luna loves to play in the water. Today we do the Northern section of the Allegheny and tomorrow the Oil City.

Still in O HI O

   Still in Ohio and no reason to leave with the nice cool weather and all the trails to ride.   Bass Lake Camp Ground is our base and so far we've ridden the Little Miami, and the Great Miami trails, today a 40 miler to Xenia and back, yesterday ride to Yellow Springs then a hike with Luna in Glen Helen to the actual Yellow Spring the village is named for. Only had my phone and it took a lousy picture of the spring.  The day before we rode to Tipp City once Tippicanoe  had meatloaf and mashed taters at Sam and Gladys restaurant then went on to Troy.  Tomorrow is laundry day so a short ride in the afternoon to Yellow Springs and their new brewery which as is in the process of putting on a deck trail side.  Yes their beer is good, very good so guess where I'm going.  Since wi fi is sketchy and ATT phone service sucks I've had to pick my times to post, and being I have no smart phone the camera on mine is only so so, which means there is not going to be any instant uploads to facebook.  But here's a few pics anyway if they'll go.  Till later or something exciting happens, ta ta for now, or is that ttfn.
First pic is Troy courthouse from the Great Miami trail, 2nd is Huffman Dam trail switch backs, 3rd Luna's friend Fancy.

Back to Ohio

     After a fun filled family reunion on both our parts, apart, Cindy in KS and I in PA, and my family camp out at Punderson Lake State park, Ohio where we rode the Maple Highlands trail, went through a torrential rain storm Friday night.  The rain was especially intense for those in tents! I've always wanted to find a way to say that, as the next morning there were a lot of sleeping bags and such laid out to dry.  One positive thing about the rain was it chased the noisy idiots ( not members of our group) who camped in the site next to ours, away.  They seemed hell bent on trying to make as much of a disturbance as possible in the few hours they were there, by yelling, cussing, and making all manner of noise without any regard for anyone else.  The rain fell so hard which later when in bed drowned out they're antics and finally drove them from the park.
     Now we're hooked up in Berlin, Ohio in conjunction with Millersburg deemed the largest Amish community in the country.  Horse and buggies everywhere, beautifully maintained farms, lots of shopping for Amish goods, great cheese and meats and wood worked products.  The Holmes County trail is here so we rode the 17 mile stretch of it from end to end. Very nicely paved and wider than most to accommodate buggies and bikes through verdant farm and forest.  Of course we had to go sample some of the cheese and scrumptious home cooked vittles not to mention a delicious peach pie with whipped cream to die for.  We'll just have ride extra hard the next few days to make up for our indulgence.
     Tomorrow we head for the Kokosing trail starting in Mount Vernon.  A guy we saw in Troy last year recommended it highly.

 

Montour Trail

     After so many hot muggy days I finally got a day that was made for a nice long bike ride, highest temp reached 73 degrees but 69 degrees most of the time and mostly cloudy with just a little wind.
The Montour is crushed rock and a total of 63 miles and is part of the Great Allegheny Passage. The Section I did today was from Hendersonville to mile marker 0 near Coraopolis.  It encompassed 2 of the 3 tunnels the National tunnel and the Enlow tunnel and a long trestle spanning the Panhandle trail which goes to WVA.  Because of the heave rains of late there were some sandy washouts to traverse but the old mtn. bike sense kicks in and just pick a line and pedal like mad.  Saw lots of rabbits, a few ground hogs, many birds, summer tanager, king fisher, gold finches, robins, cardinals and a cat bird that gave me holy hell for picking black berries.   Stopped and ate lunch at Brothers Grimm and had a 10 oz. hamburger and a mountain of fries which I didn't eat all of.  The gate at the entrance of the road to the restaurant was an interesting welded together metal affair using 2 bicycles and painted bright red.  Brothers Grimm gives away free lunch to the annual trail ride every year.
     Tomorrow I'll try to hook up with a child hood friend and cruise around my old neighborhood.
See ya!

Like I said in the last post been parked in my sister's driveway for a family visit and reunion and today we sister, brother in law and nephew went for a ride on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pgh. PA.  We started across the Monongahela river from South Side crossed the Hot Metal Bridge which used to be used to carry iron from Eliza Furnaces to the South Side past the practice fields for the Pgh. Steelers and Pit Panthers to Eliza furnace and pump house which today had an art fair with a local winery having a wine tasting.  Of course we tasted. Then continued Southeast past Kennywood Amusement park along the river and crossing bridges to where we had to turn around due to time restraint.  This trail is part of the GAP or Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Wsahington DC.  Eventually it'll begin at Greater Pgh. Int. Airport through the South Hills to Pgh. and on to DC. Imagine flying into Pgh. or DC with a bike and doing this trail for 300 some miles one way then flying home.  Most of the sections we rode today were paved and well marked with lots to look at. Had lunch at Mitchell's Fish Market, yum, cedar plank salmon.  Will do this trail further next week.