Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Ok, sorry for the long delay. We've had a very busy few weeks. We'll try to catch up over the next few days. Now, for the last event on our PA road trip . . .

We arrived at Fort Necessity National Battlefield fairly early in the morning on May 17th.

Again, this is a place I had never heard of and is part of a chapter in our country's history that I know next to nothing about. This is really a shame because I feel like I'm relatively knowledgeable about American History, and this is a really important place at a really important event that involved really important people. I know this is partly a result of growing up in Alabama - the French-Indian War is not something you spend a lot of time on in history class in AL.

Anyway - think this war isn't important? Well, if the other side won, we'd all be a bunch of crepe eatin', beret wearin' Frenchies.

Ok, let's get on with it. This National Battlefield commemorates the place where the French-Indian War got started. In the mid 1700's, this region between the Ohio River and the Appalachians was disputed among the British and the French - the latter saw it as a natural link between New France (Canada) and Louisiana. So, the French sent troops into the region to drive out English settlers and to build forts, especially around the Great Lakes, like Fort Presque Isle in present-day Erie (see our post from a few days prior to this day - I love it when the history of various sites are related - it makes everything so much easier to understand and that much more interesting). In 1753, Virginia's British governor sent a few troops under the command of a 21 year old George Washington (we often forget that Washington was a loyal British soldier before the Revolution) into the region to tell the French to back off, essentially. The French refused.

In spring of 1754, British troops were sent to present-day Pittsburgh to build a fort, but they were driven off by the French - the French turned this fort into Fort Duquesne. By late May, Washington and his men arrived in an area called the Great Meadows - where this park is now. He called is "a charming place for an encounter". I like this quote for a lot of reasons. 1st, he referred to what he new would be a deadly conflict as an "encounter", which probably says something about the way men thought about warfare back then. Also, it sounds like he appreciated the beauty of the area

3 days after arriving in the Great Meadows, Washington and about 40 men went out to "encounter" some French soldiers they were told were camping a few miles away. Early on the 28th of May, they completely surprised the French in a ravine and routed them - 10 killed, 1 wounded, 21 prisoners, and 1 who escaped back to Fort Duquesne. Washington lost only 1 man and 2 wounded.

After the English colonel Fry died back at the Great Meadows a few days later, Washington took command and immediately set upon fortifying their position by building Fort Necessity. This fort is a rather small, circular stockade with 1 small enclosed building in the center. Really a very unremarkable structure, but a good decision, because the French were pissed.

By mid June, reinforcements brought Washington's men up to nearly 400, but he failed to retain his Indian allies. On July 3, about 600 French soldiers and 100 Indians (lead by the brother of one of those killed in the ravine) surrounded Fort Necessity, taking up positions in the woods at the edge of the meadow. The location of the fort was a tactical mistake - it was located out in the open within range of soldiers at the edge of the forest. Anyway, the 2 sides battled all day in a raging rainstorm, and though both sides suffered casualties, the British were taking to brunt of the action and were losing. However, they got a lucky break - the French commanders feared that British reinforcements were on their way, so they offered a truce. After hours of negotiation, at midnight Washington signed a truce allowing his soldiers to withdraw with honors and retaining their possessions and weapons. The French burned Fort Necessity and returned to Fort Duquesne.

Now, this was not only the opening battle of the French-Indian War, but also the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War everywhere else in the world (even if it really was only between the British and the French) Pretty amazing.

The Museum looks small at 1st, but they do a wonderful job of maximizing the space. The exhibits are really great and very well done. There were exhibits not only on the events, but also on the Indians, their ways of life, and he archaeology of the site and region. Everything was really fascinating. There is also a few-minute-long video that explains things pretty well.

There is a nice trail leading to the reproduction fort. However, there is nothing more to the fort than what is shown in this picture. I wish there were some interpretive signs or something. There is also a trail to Mount Washington Tavern up along the side of the National Road, but we decided to go back to the truck and drive since we didn't have much time.

Mount Washington Tavern is another old roadside tavern/boarding house from the 18th century for travelers along the old National Road. We went in for a quick tour, had some lemonade and cookies, and then headed out. This is one of those parks with several, unconnected pieces. The next portion was General Edward Braddock's grave. This is another side-story to this park. In 1755, British General Braddock lead an army of a couple thousand soldiers through this area trying to widen Washington's original road. When they weren't making enough progress on the road, Braddock lead half of his men ahead to the west to try to quicken the pace. Braddock was an experienced general, but not with wilderness fighting, and his men were inexperienced. So, they were exhausted when they ran into about 600 French soldiers and Indians about 8 miles from Fort Duquesne on July 9th. Even though they outnumbered their adversaries by more than 2 to 1, 2/3 of the British and most of the officers died in the battle. Braddock was mortally wounded and died on the retreat, and was buried in this spot. It's pretty amazing that they've actually found the exact burial site.

The last place we went is up on a ridge to take the short hike to the ravine where Washington's men snuck up on and routed the French soldiers. It is easy to see how the battle would have been so decisive. If you were surrounded here, there would be no place to go. When we got here, Sarah wanted to stay behind since Jackson was sleeping, so I took the short hike to the ravine, and then decided to finish the short loop indicated on the sign at the trail head. However, the trail did some weird things and after a while I realized it wasn't doing what it was supposed to, so I took a left off the trail headed towards where I thought the truck was, and ended up exactly where I wanted to go in only a minute or 2. The only problem is that when I got back to the truck, Sarah and Jackson were gone. So, I thought, "great, Jackson woke up and they went looking for me." So, I hiked back to the ravine, but they weren't there. I went back ad forth to the truck a couple of times and yelled a few times, but no sign of them. I started to get worried because it wasn't like Sarah to leave her phone while on a hike - she knows better. I waited, and waited. No sign. I figured that maybe she did what I did - tried to take the look but got lost when it didn't do what it was suppose to do. I even stood at the edge of the forest and used the panic button on the truck remote to signal to her and then listen for them to answer. Lots of yelling and still no answer. I was really worried. Eventually, though, I finally heard her yell, and I directed her back up the hill to the truck. I was right - she did get lost on the trail. But it really scared me.

Anyway, this is a great park and it was a great trip.

Day 7 - May 17th, 2009

Ok, actually we'll start with the previous night. After Friendship Hill NHP, we had a decision to make. We had 1 more stop that we really wanted to make - Fort Necessity National Historic Park, but it was storming and going to be for much of the night, so camping was out. I didn't really want to spend the money on a motel, so we had to decide between that and just calling the trip over and heading back home. As much as I didn't want to spend the money, we also didn't want to go home yet, so we just drove around trying to find the cheapest motel once we got near the next park. We had several choices, but most were expensive so we ended up back at a fairly nice one near the park. It had a nice back porch overlooking a grassy hill leading down to a pond. The porch was convenient because I could use the camp stove to cook our dinner. We could also sneak Lincoln into this place, which was another benefit. It stormed like crazy that night.

In keeping with the tradition of dedicating a single post to each National Park that we visit, I'll save Friendship Hill National Historic Site for tomorrow's post. I'll just take this time to sum up the trip. I think I speak for all 4 of us when I say we had a wonderful time. Everything was great - the weather was beautiful and nearly everywhere we went was as well. I'd love to go back to just about everywhere we went, but there were so many places we couldn't fit in. It was a perfect time of the year to go as well, though I'd like to do a similar trip in the fall. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state with fantastic state parks and a very varied landscape. I certainly hope we'll be able to make another similar trip sometime soon. I think we could do one more trip like this in PA and then I'll feel like we've pretty thoroughly explored the state. We've decided to take a couple of days off in the fall (when it is nice and cool and there are few tourists) to visit all of the National Historic sites in Philly. We've seen a few, but there are so many we haven't made it to even half of them. Once we see those, we only have to complete our tour of Gettysburg and Eisenhower National Historic Site, and we'll be done with all of PA's National Park sites - that will be the 1st state we've officially completed. Then where - Maryland? New York? We'll see I guess.

We traveled about 1,275 miles on this trip.

I just love this flannel shirt. I have one just like it.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site

We arrived at Friendship Hill National Historic Site (http://www.nps.gov/frhi/index.htm)around midday and the weather was fine despite driving through some rain on the way here. It was hot, though. Really the 1st time all trip it had been hot and humid.

Friendship Hill is the country home of Albert Gallatin - I know, I'd never heard of him either. This is really a shame because he was really an important person. He best know for being the Secretary of the Treasury for 13 years in the Thomas Jefferson and James Madison administrations. His biggest and best accomplishments were to decrease the national debt, and - this is where my interest is really piqued - he oversaw the Louisiana Purchase and funded the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Albert Gallatin - "not a handsome man", as he was described by his 1st wife.

He was born in Switzerland but immigrated during the Revolutionary War. He had a wide variety of talents, being an accomplished ethnologist, linguist, politician, and Congressman. In fact, he is considered to be one of the 3 finest diplomats of his time, along with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson - pretty good company.

This beautiful home was built in stages as his family grew, as many were back then, and was built on a bluff overlooking the Allegheny River in the back yard, and a beautiful pasture in the front.

The front of the house.

I don't believe there was an entrance fee, but it was nice because we were the only ones there and we had free reign of he house. Now, so far on our trip, our timing had been nearly perfect. We talked about it several times - going on this trip during the 2nd / 3rd week of May was perfect because the weather was great (nice and cool) and all of the parks were empty because kids were still in school. This was the 1st time (and only time) that it didn't work out as well for us. Much of the house was closed off to tourists because they weren't yet running tours for the summer crowds. Oh well - can't win them all. It was a beautiful house, inside and out, and I always especially love to see the kitchens - the huge fireplace and all of the kitchen utensils and early 19th century kitchen "gadgets".

The back of the house.


After touring the house and taking pictures on the well, we walked around back and then back to the car down a hill in the parking lot. As far as National Parks go, this wasn't the most interesting. I would go back to hike some of the trails, see more of the house, etc., but only if I was in the area. We had a picnic in the shade of a tree beside the parking lot, and then left the park, with ominous storm clouds collecting around us.

Jackson looking puzzled by the strange man.

Day 6 - Saturday, May 16, 2009

We managed to get a little more sleep after Sarah woke us up with her “tornado” shenanigans, but eventually got up relatively early. We took down camp pretty quickly because it started to rain. We were on our way farther south and now slightly east. Again, since there’s not much to see on the west side of the state, and since we had lots of ground to cover with very little trip time left, we went against our rules and headed sought on the interstate. That also allowed us to avoid Pittsburgh.

Southeast of Pittsburgh we got off onto US 40, headed southeast towards Friendship Hill National Historic Site. Despite the big name, this is a small, 2 lane road in most places with homes and businesses right along side of it. Immediately, we started driving past what appeared to be a community yard sale. But, that yard sale just kept going, and going, and going. We drove for 20 or 30 miles on that road, with nearly continuous yard sales alongside, and food vendors on the sidewalks in towns. We didn’t know what was going on.


About the time Jackson needed a diaper change, we came across historic Seawright’s Tollhouse, so we stopped and went in. It is a very small place, but an old lady there gave us a quick tour. This place was built in 1835 to collect tolls on this road. There were many such buildings on this road.

And then we started to put the pieces together. This road, now US 40, is called the "National Road", or "National Pike"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Road) - it is also a National Historic Road. It was built in the early 1800 as the 1st federally funded, inter-state road. There were many reasons it was built, but principally the country's early statesmen believed it would make it easier for settlers on the frontier to get their goods to big eastern markets, and easier for them to get stuff from the east, all of which would make them more likely to support the US. The road was begun in 1811 starting at the head of the Potomac River in Cumberland, MD. It was originally intended to extend all the way to St. Louis, MO, but funding ran out by 1839, so it ended at Vandalia, IL. They placed cast iron mile markers every mile, and a few still exist.

At the time, many politicians railed against the road a "wasteful, porkbarrell spending". Sound familiar? On one hand, it is kind of comforting that this is not a new phenomenon. On the other hand, apparently it has been going on for ever, and therefore I see no reason why it will ever end. I guess it illustrates another point - one man's "wasteful spending" is another man's good investment. I doubt you'd find anyone today who could argue this road was a waste of taxpayer money.

Sarah playing with Jackson's hair. Neither Jackson nor I were very happy about this.

Now this giant yard sale made sense as well. They were holding their yearly festival called "Pike Days", celebrating the National Pike. In addition to the fairs and yard sales, people in horses and wagons travel along the road to recreate the old Pike days.

Anyway, we eventually made it to Friendship Hill National Historic Site, home of Albert Gallatin. Never heard of him? Why is his home a National Historic Site? Well, since it is part of the National Park Service, I'll save that for the next blog post.

Day 5 - Friday, May 15, 2009

This morning we finally got an early start and got to Drake's Well Museum just outside of Titusville, PA. Actually, we were the 1st people there.

Now, this park may not sound that interesting, but it really is. I included a short discussion about this park in my climate change exhibit, which is how I knew about it and why I wanted to stop here. Anyway, the short version of the story is that Colonel Edwin Drake, on this spot in 1859, drilled the 1st oil well in history, and is therefore credited with starting the petroleum industry, now the largest in the world, by far. Oil naturally seeped out of the ground in this area, especially along Oil Creek (which runs through the park), and was collected by local Indians and used for a variety of things.

The park and museum are really very nice. The museum has lots of interpretive exhibits describing the history of the site and the oil industry in the region, and how the oil drilling technology progressed through the years. The park itself was nice open ground along side beautiful Oil Creek (which had lots of fly fishermen in it) and scattered around were buildings and operating replicas of the period equipment. The centerpiece, obviously, was a replica of the original Drake's Well building, with an operating steam engine-operated well pump.

A replica of the original Drake's Well. This particular pump only recycles oil and doesn't really pump it, but there is still a lot of oil and natural gas in western PA. I think most people would be surprised to learn that the petroleum industry got started in PA. I know I was.

Oil Creek running adjacent to the park. Good trout stream.

The park grounds, with various buildings and replica equipment. Finally, a good view of the trees. The trees in our corner of the state were fully leafed-out for weeks before this picture was taken. What a difference!

This was really a nice park, and the day was already shaping up to be beautiful day. The sun was rather hot, but it was nice and cool in the shade with a beautiful deep blue sky.

From here we drove a short distance to a state park with a related theme - Oil Creek State Park. This park talked about Drake's Well, but dealt with the topic on a broader level. It was really about those earliest days of the oil industry in this part of the world. There were many towns in this region that shot up in the early oil boom. The stories behind many of these towns - how quickly they shot up and were abandoned when the oil ran out, or the ratio of "houses of ill repute" and saloons relative to churches, the number of gun fights, etc. - rival even the wildest stories of similar times in the old west or in the California gold rush.

An old bridge crossing Oil Creek.

Sarah: This is the bridge that Jackson and I walked across and Jason had to go back and get the truck to drive over because Lincoln was too scared to walk over it. Well, in hindsight...maybe we should have driven too. After Jackson walked across this and then back across it once...that's when the front wheel of the jogging stoller started to get messed up. At first I thought it was the bumpy road that was making the stearing difficult but we quickly realized the front tire frame was bent or something. The rest of the trip we did not have a functioning stroller and poor Jackson was wheeled around doing a "pop-a-wheely" the rest of the time.

The park was again, very, very nice. There were hiking trails, a big picnic and playground area, a beautiful stretch of Oil Creek for fishing, and lots of interpretive trails showing where certain buildings were 150 years ago when this area was one of those crazy boom towns, called Petroleum Center. There was also a biking trail that goes around the park, but also goes for many miles, connecting this one to Drake's Well Museum and to Titusville. Finally, during the summer tourist season, there is an old train that passes through all of these oil-related parks and historic sites, dropping off and picking up passengers.

So, when we 1st got to this park,we parked and had a little picnic in the grass beside the truck. We then walked a short ways over to the ranger station, and along the way, I saw 2 amazing birds I'd never seen before. One was a male Scarlet Tanager, seen here:

and the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak:

Neither of these pictures is mine - they flew away too fast. Now, I've never been much of a birder, but I think that's at least partly because around Birmingham, all we ever saw were the same old boring birds - doves, bluejays, robins, and catbirds. Nice once or twice, but it never seems to change. Philly has pretty much the same birds. But, there are some beautiful migrating birds in western PA. I couldn't believe how red that Tanager was - it didn't look real.

Anyway, after seeing the birds we walked across the bridge to where the old town used to be and started along that interpretive path, but Jackson and Sarah were both starting to get fussy, so we went back to the other way to take a short hike on a trail, and then along side and in the river, ending in the picnic area where we laid Jackson down for a nap. Jackson has always played with his feet a lot, and sometimes when we put hm down to nap he grabs his foot in his sleep and holds on to it.

His nap didn't last long, and now he's in the stage where he thinks its funny to squirm and try to "run" away when we're trying to change his diaper. So, this time we just let him crawl away and play in the grass "necked". He had a blast.This was another park we both said we'd like to come back to. Unfortunately, we soon had to be on our way.

We spent most of the rest of the day driving. Other than things in Pittsburgh, the western edge of the state seems to be rather devoid of places to see or things to do. I was expecting this based on the general itinerary I planned based on the map, but it also became a realization that we were entering the last portion of our trip. I wanted to go to Moraine State Park because a moraine is a geological feature created by glaciers, but when we got there, there was no camping and I couldn't find anything that looked geologically interesting. There was a pretty lake and forests, but that was about it. This park was kind of a bust. They had cabins, but they were expensive and required a 2 night minimum. We had to do something though, because it was getting late in the day. So, we ended up camping at another one of those big, privately-owned, full service campgrounds. Again, out of principle, I don't really like these things, but it wasn't too bad. We had a pretty secluded spot. After setting up camp, we drove around the area some more, got some supplies, and then went back to camp.

Noodles and sausage for dinner. This was the 1st meal cooked on my big camping stove - one just like we used when I was little.

Jackson took a very late nap, and then wouldn't go to bed. He was up ate driving his mommy crazy. Unfortunately, I couldn't help because I was "busy" outside "cleaning" up our camp site. We buttoned down the hatched, because even though it was a beautiful evening, the forecast called for rain late tonight and in the morning, maybe storms.

One more thing...so we were expecting storms the next morning...remember? At 4am I woke up to siren going off. I just knew it was a tornado siren. That's what it sounded like and it kept going and going and going. I woke Jason up and said, "Quick, we have to get out of here, the tornado sirens are going off!" Here I am thinking...oh my...here we are in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the forests, in a TENT and here comes a tornado!!! Great, I thought we got away from tornados when we moved from Tupelo. Anyway...it was NOT a tornado siren, but rather a volunteer fireman alert siren. Has anyone else ever heard of this?? I thought Jason was making it up just so he wouldn't have to wake up so early but the campground owner confirmed it later.

Such a city girl. What a spazz.

It was another really great day, but it has become clear that we won't have time to hit many of the other sites we'd highlighted on the map. There just won't be enough time.

Day 4 - Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sarah's writing in white.

Jason's writing in orange.

First…Happy Birthday to Susan (Mumzie / Granny) and to Brent!!!!!!

We decided the night before that we were going to try to get an early start and our goal was to leave by 8am. We were on schedule and were leaving the hotel room to bring our stuff out to the truck and we noticed the back right tire of the truck was completely flat!!!

Yikes….there went our schedule to leave early!!!! So, not only was the tire flat….about 5 minutes later it started to down pour. So, we were left trying to change the tire and pack the truck in the pouring rain… (I love how Sarah says "we" when describing the changing of the truck tire!) with Jackson and Lincoln…..just wonderful!!! Luckily there was a covered porch adjacent to the parking lot that we pulled the truck under to get out of the rain. Jason changed the tire while I tried to occupy Jackson and help reorganize the truck. Jackson and I went back up to the room to double check that we got everything. While we were in there this guy all of the sudden came in our room….scared the crap out of me. He was obviously still drunk from the night before. Turns out he thought he was in his own room and asked me if I had fixed his TV yet??? I was thinking….”what??? Are you crazy? Do you seriously think I work here…not to mention…working with a child in my arms???” Thank goodness….he meant no harm and he turned around and went into his real room….2 doors down. Anyway, I quickly left and went back down to the truck with Jason and Lincoln. Jason had now finished changing the tire and we were almost ready to get moving….finally. Just then, that drunkard came outside and came up to us again. Now he thought Jason was his father because they had the same truck and Jason was wearing a t-shirt that had Aubie (Auburn’s Tiger mascot) on it and asked Jason if it was the Lion King?? Man this guy just needed to go to bed and sober up or maybe he was just plan CRAZY and not really drunk at all….who knows. Anyway, we finally left around 10am after getting a fishing license and continued west on route 6 (scenic drive) toward the Allegheny National Forest. Since we only had a spare tire we, rather, I decided we needed to go to a Chevy dealership to have them either put a real tire on since we were clear across the state and still had many more miles to go. Jason wasn’t very happy about it (Sarah was freaking out) but we did end up finding a dealership in Warren which actually was not too far out of the way and they were able to fix the flat in the tire (so we didn’t have to buy a new one….thank goodness) and they changed the oil too. It took about 1 ½ hours which wasn’t too bad. We made sandwiches and ate lunch in the waiting room.

Now that we had 4 good tires again, we continued our trek and drove south to Hearts Content Scenic Area in the Allegheny Nat’l Forest. It was gorgeous there. There were trails through the beautiful forests and no one else was there so we let Lincoln run free and off the leash through the trail. He was so good. The day started out, as I said…pouring rain, but now the sun had come out and the temperature dropped a little and became much less humid and it turned out to be a very pretty day. I loved this National Forest. This forest was so different from anything I'd hiked through before. It is an old-growth forest dminated by Hemlocks, White Pines, and beech trees - all northern species. They were all huge, tall, and straight. It must be pretty wet here, too, because there was thick green moss everywhere. The picture at the top of the blog page was taken there. Again, you could really tell how much farther behind spring was compared to where our house is in southeastern PA. I'd really like to come back here and spend more time. I only hiked here for about an hour or so before we had to move on.

After Hearts Content Scenic Area we drove just a few miles southwest to Tidioute Lookout which was just on the outskirts of the Allegheny Nat’l Forest and was on the scenic road we were driving down (route 62). We both agreed that while there parks are really pretty now, we would also like to see them in the fall with all of the leaves changing colors. One of the things Sarah and I noticed were all of the porcupines dead along the road. We've never seen wild porcupine - dead or otherwise. Apparently they are common this far north and west in PA. I really wanted to see one alove, but this is the best we could do. Poor little guy. These critters have more than 30,000 quills!
Our next destination was Titusville, PA. We were planning to see the Drake's Well Museum and go to Oil Creek State Park there, however by the time we would have arrived in Titusville it would have been too late in the day and wouldn't be able to spend as much time as we would like. So…we decide to keep driving northwest all the way up to Erie, PA and then head back to Titusville since it would be on our way back down south anyway. So off we went…up to Erie. We really just wanted to go to Erie since it is a well known city and since it IS on a Great Lake. Neither one of us really had any great expectation of Erie. We arrived around 5pm (since we're so far north, it stays light really late here) and drove straight to Presque Isle State Park which was right on Lake Erie.

This state park was a very nice surprise - it was a beautiful place with lots of big cottonwood trees on a narrow peninsula sticking out into Lake Erie with the city just across the bay. Plus, the park has some history. 1st, we stopped to get Jackson some dinner at a little picnic ground beside the water.

Then we kept driving to the end of the peninsula. There were tons of people everywhere - running, walking, riding bikes, etc., though I never felt like it was overcrowded - just people enjoying the gorgeous weather at the end of the day. At the far end of the loop there is a monument and interprtive area discussing the history of the site. This peninsula played a very important part in the naval history in the War of 1812. This is the site where Oliver Hazard Perry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Hazard_Perry), commander of U.S> naval forces on Lake Erie, soundly defeated the British navy here in the Battle of Lake Erie. He is called the "Hero of Lake Erie". Unfortunately, I don't remember much more than that, which is a shame because it was really interesting . . . old age, I guess.

We kept driving as the sun was getting lower and we found a beach. I had been to a great lake when I was little living in Chicago, but I don't remember it. Even though we pretty much new what to expect, Sarah and I was both surprised at just how much like an ocean it is - wide sandy beaches, nothing but water on the horizon, small waves, etc. The Great Lakes even have small tides, and I swear I could detect a slight beachy smell.

We wanted to give Jackson his 1st dip in a great lake, so . . .

Yes, it was cold!

Jackson and I sat on some rocks forming a jetty, and he was mesperized by the waves breaking on the rocks. He could have sat there with me for hours.

After the rocks we let Jackson play in the sand for the 1st time - his 1st beach experience. It was a fulltime job keepinghim from eating the sand.

The last stop in the park was to the lighthouse to wach the sun set. A beautiful old lighthouse built in the middle 1800's. After the park, we drove around trying to find camping in or around Erie, but there is NONE! So, we thought we'd just drive around Erie for a little while, then try to find a motel on the way back toward Titusville. We liked Erie. A nice downtown, nice stuff on the waterfront. Nice town. On the way out we tried to find something different but easy and fast for dinner because it was getting late, especially for Jackson. We went to a sports restaurant that was pretty cool but we made a big mistake - we ordered an appetizer sampler platter without realy looking at what comes on it. There were 5 or 6 things on there and every one of them was deep fried and really greesy. I felt pretty nasty walking out of there.

We thought finding a motel for the night would be easy because for the entire journey on Route 6 so far we had seen tons of mom and pop motels. Now, of course, there wasn't a sinlge one on the way back to Titusville. It was about 11pm by the time we got to Titusville, which is big enough to have several motels. We used the GPS to try to find one of those "mom and pop" places, but twice it lead us to non-existent or closed down places. So, we said screw it, we'll just go to the Motel 6 we passed 4 times. We snuck Lincoln in again. We were a little annoyed that we lost a gorgeous night for camping, but all in all, it was a great and full day.

Day 3 - Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Sarah's writing in white.

Jason's writing in blue

Jackson slept well again and woke up around 7:30am. We kind of got a slow start and then decided we both wanted to take showers since this park had really nice facilities and showers….plus I just felt icky! So we took turns watching Jackson so we could both shower. Our little camper friend (ZZ Top impersonator) came over to us again in the morning and talked to us about other cool campsites in PA. This guy, we never got his name, goes on 10-14 day camping trips twice a year. He was camping at this park, World’s End State Park for 10 days. He was a little strange but very nice and seemed lonely….which is why we think he kept coming over to talk….poor guy.

We finally left the park ~11:00am….like I said…we got a really late start. There was a really cool and old general store just past an old covered bridge right outside the park that has been there for years and years. We stopped there to get some ice and we split an early lunch before continuing west (generally on scenic Route 6 but mostly on tiny country roads) on our scenic drive to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania in the Tioga State Forest. It was a beautiful drive and it was amazing to see how different the northwest part of the state looks. In the Philly area, the trees have all bloomed and leaves are back on all of the trees and everything looks green and lush right now. The northern part of PA seems like it is at least 2 weeks behind the southeast part of the state in terms of the spring season. It still looks like early spring up here with the trees just starting put put our buds and leaves, brown grass, and not many flowers blooming. We also noticed there are aspen trees up here.

Sarah and Jackson on the east rim of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania in Leonard Harrison State Park.

There are 2 state parks on the "Grand Canyon of PA". Leonard Harrison is on the east rim, and Colton Point is down in the canyon bottom on the west side. We only had time for Leonard Harrison, unfortunately, because it is a long drive to the other from this one.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and parked the car to walk around some of the trails and overlooks. I had heard from many people that this was a beautiful park and the views were spectacular. I actually was not that impressed, in fact, I think this was my least favorite park so far. It was ok and the view was pretty, but nothing that I would call spectacular. The Little River Canyon in Alabama was much more impressive than this. I agree completely. We saw a few turkey vultures flying around the canyon which was pretty neat. Jason tried to take some pictures of them but they always seemed to fly out of range once he got his camera out…..I think they knew he was trying to get them…teasing him.

Jason, Jackson, and Sarah. Ok, just kidding. I'm really much better built than this dude. This is a statue dedicated to the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, who helped to make the trails and facilities in this park in the 30's.

There was a neat log cabin near the visitor center where we took a few family pictures. We stood in front of two cool trees that joined at the same root. These types of trees are my favorite and I always tell Jason these are “our” trees. Him and I….2 different people but joined together with love….blah blah blah…he’s going to be so embarrassed that I wrote this in here…ha ha ha! I wish she were lyeing, but she's not. She really is that gay. Every time.

Just before we arrived at the Grand Canyon of PA, we heard on the radio that they were projecting fairly bad storms coming with lots of rain and 40 mi/hr winds. We knew that would not be much fun camping in that, especially with Jackson and Lincoln, so we decided to look for a cool rustic cabin to try to stay in. Unfortunately we couldn't’t find any cabins and the ones that were available had a 2-night minimum. So, we decided to head further west on the scenic drive and hope that we would see some motels or hotels to stay in for the night. We drove several miles on route 6 and the only places we could find were in a town called Coudersport where found a non-chain hotel that also served a continental breakfast….which was a plus! Unfortunately there was not any good place for us to cook our own food for dinner so we went to a family style restaurant within walking distance to the hotel. The food was not great but we didn’t have many other cheap options. We did drive around the downtown area which had great architectural features and just looked like a typical old industrial town. There was an old fashion theater that charged $3 admission. We did see a few nice restaurants downtown but they all looked pretty fancy and we were not exactly dressed appropriately nor did we want to spend a lot of money. Our hotel was on the side of a creek where we saw some boys fishing. After dinner we went back to the hotel and I gave Jackson a bath and got him ready for bed. While I was getting Jackson ready for bed, Jason and Lincoln drove to the local grocery store to get more food for Jackson since we were running low. Jason had to sneak Lincoln into our room that night. We weren’t sure if they allowed pets or not (there were no signs indicating no pets allowed) but we didn’t want to ask just in case they said no. We had free wireless Internet so we worked on this blog a little bit and checked our emails. I watched American Idol…of course, because I’m not ashamed to say I love that show!!! (Still can’t believe Danny got the boot….WOW!!!). I may be even more embarrassed now than with the stupid trees. Anyway, that was pretty much the rest of our evening.

It was a pretty great day, though you wouldn't know it because we didn't take many pictures or any video. We spent the vast majority of this short day driving on tiny little farm roads, many of which were just dirt and gravel. As a result, we really didn't travel that far, but we saw a lot of beautiful country and the weather was gorgeous again - cool, windy, and sunny.