29 Aug - At Letchworth State Park

29 Aug
Made it to Letchworth State Park near Castile NY this afternoon.  No probs on the trip @ a little over 5 hrs with a couple stops.  This is a fantastic State Park with a nice campground.  Elect only but very nice.  No WiFi so no pictures tonight.  After supper we headed out and viewed Upper Falls and Middle Falls, plus the Mt Morris dam.  This place is called the "Grand Canyon of the East". Unbelievable gorges, water falls and scenery!  Pictures in a day or so.

Tomorrow we plan to head to Niagara Falls.

28 Aug - Packing it up at Gilbert State Park

28 Aug
Laid back day.  Hit the Walmart to restock groceries and other items, McDonalds (WiFi) to update the blog and get the IT devices up to date on updates, and then back to the campgrounds to watch a Cubs game in the afternoon.  Weather is great, but chance of showers tonight.

Next post:  Letchworth State Park near Castile NY.  Iowa is getting closer!  Link to Letchworth:
http://nysparks.com/parks/79/details.aspx

From Letchworth we will visit Niagara Falls, friends and sights in Buffalo area and maybe a lighthouse or two.

27 Aug - Cooperstown NY and the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame

27 Aug
No pictures posted yesterday, but here is the entrance to our campground.  Easy entrance and check-in, good roads and no height issues.

The campground is very nice, fairly well spread out. All our neighbors have been descent.  As soon as I hoisted Old Glory with the Air Force flag under it, our neighbor to the rear commented on how his son is currently serving and station at Elmendorf AFB Alaska.  We had quite a few conversations over the past couple days, and he apparently took a liking to us as he hooked us up with a bunch of fire wood!  So we had a really nice campfire last night, cooking some brat patties on there and then flipping the grille out of the way and finishing off with a blaze into the evening.

So back to this morning, Today we headed into Coopertown NY, about 15 miles away, home of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  This is a Mecca for baseball fans.

We could not see much of the scenery on the drive to Cooperstown due to the low clouds. 

 I took many, many pictures and will post just a few here:

Many beautiful old buildings in Cooperstown

The entrance to the Baseball Hall of Fame

They post the standings right outside.  Nice to see our Cubbies on top!

The Hall of Fame is three floors.  The first floor is the actual Hall of Fame.  

Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson

Players are selected each year for consideration and then some are inducted, based on a criteria.  This year it occurred the third week in July, and Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr.  Those selected for the current year have a special display at the entrance to the Hall, and then everyone from past years has a bronze plaque in the hall.  

Here are a few, with a bit of partiality !

The other floors include a ton of baseball historical exhibits to present day, a room full of baseball art, baseball commercial items like cards, cereal boxes, tobacco, etc and a gift shop.  A few highlights:

The claim that Abner Doubleday invented baseball is quickly dispelled here!

A lot of vintage baseball gear on display from many players

 There was a nice section on women's baseball:

A League of Their Own!

Kalamazoo had a team!

A whole section on Negro League and the players who changed the game.

After leaving the gift shop, we walked the downtown Cooperstown area and stopped by a few of the shops.

 We had a couple slices of pizza at a local restaurant, then headed back to the campground.  Of course Doreen quickly spotted a lighthouse, so we had to stop!  Actually this is a gas station, but it is still pretty cool!

Tomorrow we will do some housekeeping, a little shopping, fuel-up and prepare to head towards Letchworth State Park, our next stop

26 Aug - Arrived at Gilbert State Park Laurens NY not far from Cooperstown

26 Aug
Departed Tree Farm campground in Vermont at 09:18 hrs and arrived at Gilbert Lake State Park campground at 15:16 hrs.  With stops, 5 hrs 58 min on the road, 265 miles.  Nice Campspot, 50A elec only, no water, no sewer.

Stats:
4304 miles point to point
5981 vicinity miles
10,285 total miles traveled
$1791.28 fuel purchased
786.907 gals fuel purchased
$2.280 average diesel fuel cost/gal
$1.969 cheapest fuel at Saddlebrook MO on 26 Apr
$2.709 most expensive fuel at Wayne PA on 21 Jun
10 gal DEF used
10 gal propane used
$4304.81 camping fees total entire trip
3:36 average travel time
154 average travel miles
230 average vicinity miles

No wifi here and poor cell coverage so no pix right now.  Going to Cooperstown, MLB Hall of Fame tomorrow!!

25 Aug - Visit with Bill LaPointe, Packing up at Tree Farm Campground

25 Aug
Today we drove to north and a bit east of the campgrounds here in Vermont to meet up and have an extended "lunch" with another Air Force buddy, Vermont State Command Chief Master Sergeant  (ret) Bill LaPointe and his wife Christine.  Bill has been a good friend and mentor for many years.  While I was stationed in Iraq he was on orders making official visits to all the bases over there, and he stopped to see us at Kirkuk.  After I returned to the US and assumed the Wing Command Chief position in Des Moines, we stayed in touch and collaborated regularly.  As I advanced to State Command Chief, and Bill was the Vermont State Command Chief, we both served at the national level on the Air national Guard Enlisted Field Advisory Council.  We have stayed in touch ever since including our plans to travel through Vermont on this trip.

The drive north up I-91 was really scenic, even though it was cloudy today.

Pine trees as far as you can see.

The interstate is lines with granite with quartz veins in many areas.

.  Bill and Christine were camping in northern Vermont so he traveled south and we went north to meet at a restaurant.  We had a great time doing a whole lot more talking and laughing that eating!

Bill could not let us leave Vermont without some maple syrup!

The gang!

Bill and Christine LaPointe

On the way back to the campgrounds we drove a secondary road and traveled through the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge, originally constructed in 1866.  Per the plaque this is the longest wooden bridge in the United States and it is the longest two-span covered bridge in the world!  It is huge!  It was originally a toll bridge, but bought by New Hampshire and made toll-free in 1943.

460 foot long covered bridge

"Walk your horses or pay a two dollar fine."

Back at the campgrounds we packed for a departure tomorrow morning.  We tear down, clean and pack everything outside (chairs, mats, grille, satellite dish) and empty the black and gray tanks,  Doreen packs most everything inside in preparation for departure.  Tomorrow morning we will retract the five slides, lower the TV antenna; disconnect the electric, sewer and water lines, hook up the truck, raise the levelers and boogy on down the road to our next destination - Gilbert Lake campground near Laurens NY.

24 Aug - Ed's Birthday and Visit with Balutski's

24 Aug

Today we traveled about an hour south and west to visit an Air Force buddy who I served with in Iraq,  Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Kenui "Bull" Balutski and his wife Donna.  He has since retired and he and his wife bought a beautiful house in a rural area near East Dover VT.

The drive to his place was very scenic but also a little intense.  Our RAM 3500 pickup is wide since it is a "dually". The rural roads here are narrow with virtually no shoulder, and the locals drive fast!  But we made it without incident.

One of the streams that parallels the road.  Water level is very low right now.

 

Covered bridges we passed through.

We arrived about 1230 hrs and visited for a while then Bull prepared some steaks and sweet corn with baked sweet potatoes.  Donna served key lime pie for dessert and they offered to sing "happy birthday" since today is the big six-one!  Bull gave us a tour of their home which included his "heritage room" where he proudly displays his Air Force career mementos. Over a career we accumulate a lot of items for which we are very proud!

Besides that he is a Rams and Boston Red Sox Fan and attended every game of the 2013 World Series including one game where he got to throw out the first pitch!  Very cool!

 

 

It was reakky great to see Bull again and meet his wife Donna!  I am so glad our schedules meshed such that we could see each other again!

When we left, they took us by a neighbor named Sonny Brown who processes and sells Vermont maple syrup!  The building was built in 1991 but he had been doing this for many, many years.  Here is a link to an article about their farm:  http://www.dvalnews.com/view/full_story/24871319/article-Following-slow-start--sap-starting-to-flow

Brown's Sugar Shack

Wood-fired stove they cook the sap to create the syrup

Buckets used to collect the sap.  Now they use plastic pipes that connect the trees to a central collection area

An old wooden sap bucket no longer used

Old devices they used to use to tap the trees

Snow shoes used to get to the trees

Large plastic tanks used to collect the sap before it is processed

  It was very interesting to see the tools used to make maple syrup, and this is the real deal folks!!.  We purchased some to take home and we are looking forward to sampling it!!

Tomorrow we travel to northern Vermont to have lunch with CMSgt (ret) Bill LaPointe, retired Vermont State Command Chief.