Before I give you an update on our travels to Gettysburg, PA, Conwanesque Lake, PA, and Niagara Falls, NY, let me bring you up to date on our activities of the last several months.
You may know we have travelled all over the US in our RV for the last 2 and a half years, all the while trying to sell our home in Maryland -- without any success. No activity at all unless you count the number of times we reduced the price at the urging of our realtor. In the end we realized there were too many foreclosures on the market for us to compete with. Too many foreclosure and too many short sales. Too many people just walking away from their mortgages.
Not to mention the banks have stopped giving mortgages for all but the lowest end of the market. So much for all of the ‘bailout’ tax dollars provided to the financial community by the US Government. And, we now find out, our government leaders gave the economic stimulus/bailout money without any ‘strings attached’. That is, no requirement that the banks actually ‘stimulate’ the economy by providing loans. It seems the banks have kept the vast majority of the funds to themselves. The only economy stimulated so far has been the personal economies of the financial companies executives via nice fat bonuses.
Oh well, I digress.
Since we couldn’t sell, we decided to rent our home so we might return to our RV travels full time. Amazingly enough, the rental market is doing quite well. We had several prospective renters for our house within two weeks. We spent a hectic month getting the house cleared and cleaned so the new family could move in; they seem very nice family and hopefully it works out for all of us.
I mention all the above (except for the economic stimulus rant) just to explain where Mary Lynn and I have been for the last few months. I didn’t update the blog since we were not travelling in the RV.
However, we are once again happily ensconced in our little RV and ‘on the road again’. Yes, once again on the open road with the freedom to turn in almost any direction. RV Full-timers. Our only boundaries are the oceans surrounding North America.
Well, almost. Our son Scott & his lovely fiancé get married in mid-September so we will not wander too far away from Maryland.
We left in early August and spent our first week in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg is a favorite location of ours and we were able to visit the entire battlefield in depth plus it allowed us to have our family join us for MLA’s birthday. The landscape in Gettysburg today is so peaceful and serene it is hard to imagine the unbelievable hardship & suffering that occurred there for three days during America's Civil War. The saying “All Gave Some, Some Gave All” strikes you everywhere you go in Gettysburg.
Although we toured the entire battlefield, I was especially interested in Little Roundtop where the 20th Maine and Alabamians fought each other so valiantly. I found a small, recently prepared memoriam left for several of the Alabama soldiers who gave their all almost 150 years ago right next to the 20th Maine memorial in what is today one of the most peaceful and tranquil areas you will find anywhere.
MLA and I also took the “Church Tour” held every Wednesday evening where you visit 4 churches that played a significant role in the Battle of Gettysburg. One of the best $5 we have spent on any tour.
The National Park is beautifully maintained and the new visitor center is one of the best in the country. The Cyclorama is well worth the few dollars entrance fee. It is a painting 40 feet tall and ~360 feet in length (circumference actually). You enter from below and the painting completely surrounds you. A short narration of the battle, complete with special lighting & sound effects completes your experience. Afterwards there’s a museum with more information on the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg than you can comprehend in one visit.
After Gettysburg we spent a few days in an Army Corps of Engineers campground near the Pennsylvania/New York border. Very peaceful. Throughout the US, the Corps of Engineers build dams to control flooding and they almost always build one or more campgrounds on the lake that is created. They receive a miniscule amount of the US budget and, IMHO, is one of the best uses of our tax dollars. Of course, I may be biased…
We then travelled to Niagara Falls located on the US/Canadian border. Actually we stayed at Four Mile Creek State Park in Youngstown, NY. This campground is located on the shores of Lake Ontario about 15 minutes from downtown Niagara.
We visited both the Canadian side of the falls and the American side of the falls. Our favorite was the US side which is located in the Niagara Falls State Park. It is celebrating it’s 125th year of existence. Both sides of the Niagara Falls are commercialized however the Canadian side’s commercialization are much more visible. Regardless, the natural beauty and the power of the water is amazing.
The Niagara River water levels, and hence the amount of water that flows over the falls, is regulated. It must have been really something to see when ‘all’ of the water draining from Lake Erie flowed over Niagara Falls on it’s way to Lake Ontario. Regardless, this is definitely something to have on you bucket list.
From Niagara Falls we travelled to Rome. Rome, NY that is. We are staying at the Turning Stone RV resort which is a part of the Turning Stone Casino which is owned and operated by the Oneida Native American tribe. The casino is a full fledged resort with first class facilities, activities and entertainment. Think Las Vegas Casino minus the neon and the rat pack. It is very nice. Best integration of RV camping of any casino we have seen so far.
That’s all for now.
See Ya!
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3 comments:
Welcome back to the road! I enjoyed the rant. It took us 2.5 years to sell (give away) our house in Ohio. same reasons as you noted.
Great pictures of the falls. I went there often as a kid, as we lived near Rochester, NY.
Us too, we are going through the same thing, about two years ago they changed the zoning from agriculture, to the Dardenne Prairie commercial zone, we thought okay we will sell to a business then, well the economey went in the toilet and no businesses have come forward to start populating this commercial zone. Thanks to the Obama administration, we would have trouble giving it away. Oh well. Maybe someday we will be following you, don't know about renting, who has the money to keep it nice. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.
I think the kids would live in Canada near Niagra Falls if we let them. We loved it there and plan to go back next summer. Glad you had fun! No orange kitty lately....but we still miss Hank. Especially since she was such a good mouser!
Hugs,
Jeana
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