The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

September 16 Audubon State Park, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana

I walked in a hardwood forest today that measured up to my imaginations. One of my dreams for this trip was to experience the thick green life of a hardwood forest up close. I thought that would happen in Minnesota, or maybe New York, but instead it happened here in Kentucky, on the banks of the Ohio River. The John James Audubon State Park in Henderson has several hundred acres of climax hardwoods, some more than 200 years old. The major trees are beeches, sugar maples, basswood, several varieties of oaks, tuliptree, catalpa, huge sycamores, ash, elm, and the Kentucky coffeetree.There are 61 varieties of trees here, including some rare species.

The museum was built by the CCC, another incredibly fine example craftsmanship and art. It houses the greatest number of original Audubon paintings of any museum in the world. There are original intact copies of all four volumes of the Birds of America, published in 1837. What I didn’t know until today is that these books are nearly 3 feet tall, in order to represent the birds at life size. In addition to the art, the museum had artifacts of his life and the displays told the story of his life work, his children, his devoted wife, his connections with people in power in the early 19th century. It is a fascinating story. You cannot imagine the incredible detail and beauty of an original Audubon painting without seeing it.

When we pulled into the state park campground last night, we were a bit disappointed. It seemed too close to the highway, too open, and a bit tattered. I had seen the park on Google Earth and was expecting something different, I guess. The night was warm and humid and when we went for a walk the sounds of crickets and other bugs was almost deafening. We slept well, though, and this morning our explorations of the museum and the rest of this gorgeous state park, which includes hiking trails, two small lakes, and a golf course, more than made up for the deficiencies of the campground.

This afternoon was warm and humid again, but not at all uncomfortable, and we drove back across the Ohio River to Evansville, just a few minutes north of our camping location here in Kentucky. Evansville has a thriving historic district, and we drove the streets ooohing and aaahing at every corner as more and more huge old homes came into view. I did wonder just how many photos I could take of these houses, but they are irresistible. We ended the day with a long walk along the greenbelt, a beautiful parkway punctuated with art and walkways, memorials, and bronze plaques detailing the long storied history of this river town.

Lewis and Clark passed by here on their voyage to the Pacific Ocean, and John Wesley Powell rowed past this town when he paddled the full length of the Ohio River before he became a geology professor and then later explored the Colorado River. Hardwoods and history. Our days have been filled with both in a part of our country that I never have experienced before this trip.

We talked about our last cross country trip, and how different this seemed to be. Somehow that trip, while interesting and wonderful, didn’t pass through landscapes that were so new to us. Texas still felt like the West, and I had been in Florida so the south wasn’t completely new to me either. Somehow this world, all the way from Eastern North Dakota, through the north country of the UP, to these woods of Kentucky, somehow they feel brand new. These are landscapes I have read about in the history books, in Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. I’m glad for the chance to follow this river, the heartstream of a huge part of our country.

The rest of the photos for this day are linked here.

September 15 The Ohio River Scenic Byway

I learned about the Ohio River today, as we traveled from Ohio, and across the southern boundary of Indiana. The Ohio River Scenic Byway covers three states along 967 miles of natural and cultural history. Leaving Casstown this morning, our route took us south toward the river, and we chose to follow the blue dotted line, curves and all, in order to see the countryside. The first part of our route wasn’t too impressive, and I wondered what the “scenic” really meant.

We had been on winding roads so much of the time, and decided to take a bit of a break around Louisville, and followed the Interstate for a time before dropping back down to the river again. It was a great decision, because from the town of Sulphur on state route 66, through Evansville, we followed the river through forests and farmlands and river towns rich with history.

The town of Madison was especially inviting, with 1500 buildings and all 133 blocks of the town listed on the Historic Register. A point of frustration for us, especially on a scenic byway, was the lack of places to stop and park and actually see the river. The road was incredibly narrow and winding, with no shoulders at all, and no place to stop.

But finally at the tiny town of Derby, we found a lovely park along the river, and a big barge happened to pass by at just the right moment. I love the signs telling about the history of what we are seeing, and as silly as it seems, these sign photos really help me to remember the stories of where we have been. This sign was especially good, with a clear panel that made my photo look like something framed rather than an actual scene. Made me laugh.

We followed the barge along the river until we came to the Cannelton Locks, where again there wasn’t any place to park or pull over. High on a hill above the locks, however, is the Eagle Ridge park, and as we walked out to the overlook, we got to see our barge going through the locks.

Today was my 65th birthday, and it was great to spend it exploring some part of the world that is new to me. Sometimes birthdays are strange, and I find myself waiting for the band to come marching through. Most of the time, there is no band, but in this case, since I was traveling, it didn’t matter! I talked to my children and to my dearest friend back in California, and the chance to connect with family and friends was a good thing. Cell phones are an amazing thing.

The rest of the photos for this day are linked here.

September 14 the Air Force Museum and visiting friends

Camping at the home of friends has some delightful amenities, especially when the friends are so helpful. Millie fed us breakfast, then opened her laundry room to five loads of musty laundry while Don pulled out his power washer to help Mo clean up the very grungy MoHo and Tracker. After our busy morning, Millie again brought out another meal, including her luscious potato salad, and Don suggested that we tour the Air Force Museum of Flight in Dayton, Ohio.

We spent the rest of the day at the museum, a most amazing place that I will need to talk about a bit later and having supper with the family. For the moment, I must leave this McDonalds parking lot and head for the river!

Photos for this day are linked here

September 13 Mercer PA to Casstown OH

Leaving the western edge of Pennsylvania, we traveled toward the Ohio River, attempting to stay on back roads in order to see the countryside. Once in Ohio, however, the challenge was on. Southeastern Ohio is formed in the worn down foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in addition to narrow winding roads, there are many small towns just a few miles apart, surrounded by meandering rivers and rolling hills.

Our maps were too small a scale to have all we needed, the iPhone didn’t work at all, so I had only the GPS to figure out our route. Garmin Girl was as frantic as I was, because trying to type in a town and a street took some time, and often we were there before I could get it all figured out. Mo was driving, and I think by the time we got to Casstown I was more worn out from navigating that she was from driving all those curvy roads.

Another reason for driving the back roads, was to drive far enough south to see a bit of West Virginia. Just across from East Liverpool, on the Ohio River, is the small West Virginia town of Chester. We saw the big bridge crossing the river, and managed to find our way across, meandering through town thinking we could cross back to Ohio on the Newell Bridge. Maybe not! The Newell bridge was very narrow, had a weight limit, and a toll! Instead we meandered back across the interstate bridge and again found our way south and west through the back roads of Ohio. Of course, we did this in order to add the state of West Virginia to our travel map! I have heard several ideas about how this is done, but the one we follow is that if you drive in the state, you get to claim it!

The forests in this part of Ohio have been logged and burned repeatedly, and are somewhat scraggly. We were on a road that showed a dotted blue line, meaning it was a scenic route, but we couldn’t find any signs saying what scenic route we were viewing. We spent the day winding along the hills, through small towns and farms, until we reached the portion of Ohio that is reputed to be a center of Amish culture.

The AAA book on Ohio listed the restored town of Roscoe as a “Gem”, and being directly on our route we stopped in to view some of the shops and buildings. It was charming, with a nice visitor center, and a living history museum that might have been interesting if we had the time to actually spend. Instead, Mo dropped me off on the extremely narrow street at one end of town and picked me up at the other, after some time for me to shoot photos of some of the structures. It was very hot, something new for us, since we have had cool rainy weather for most of our trip. At this point, we followed Mo’s friend Millie’s advice and detoured north to Berlin.

What we found after arriving, was that Berlin is merely a very commercial central area for “Amish Country”, and the only way to really experience this area would be to travel much more slowly. It takes time and a small vehicle to actually savor the slow lifestyle, to amble up the country lanes to visit farms and purchase Amish goods. Instead we parked in a big parking lot advertising Amish tours, buggy rides, and crafts. We stayed a very short time, since everything seemed incredibly generic and commercial and we wanted to arrive at our host’s home at a reasonable time.

Traveling west again toward Dayton, the roads finally leveled out. Long, straight, level, and headed due west into the setting sun. The blinding sunlight served to illuminate nothing but the giant bug splatters from goodness knows what cloud of species battered our windshield along this route .Passing Urbana, blinded by the light, we got a glimpse of rows and rows of huge mansions along the main highway, quite close to the road, and incredibly close together. Photos were impossible, but I discovered later that these kinds of homes seem to be very common in this part of the Midwest and would present more than enough photo opportunities for me.

It was with grateful and worn out hearts that we pulled into the long winding driveway of Mo’s friends Don and Millie. The connection goes back more than 40 plus years, and Mo has attended the weddings of each of their three daughters, worked on her Master’s with Millie, camped with the family many times, and shared many life experiences during the time most everyone lived in the Bay Area of California.

Don and Millie relocated to Ohio a few years ago in order to be close to their three daughters, all living here with their husbands and families. I had visited Don and Millie with Mo when they lived near me in Oakhurst, California, near Yosemite, and was delighted to see them again. The driveway led to a beautiful brick home on 7 wooded acres, with huge lawns, a creek, and an RV pad for the MoHo, complete with water, electric, and sewer. Perfect!

Millie fed us supper and after a bit of visiting these two weary travelers settled into a much needed rest.

Photos for the rest of this day are linked here

September 12 Watkins Glen to Mercer, Pennsylvania

The rest of the photos for this day are linked here.

It was good to have two nights in one place, but it was also good to know we would be on the road again this morning. Most days we only drive 200 to 300 miles or so, and even with only a night, we still have some time to settle in and enjoy. We also took a bit of time in Wellsboro to upload photos and post all the blog posts that were backing up. We had no clue where we would spend the night, but with it being a Sunday and long after Labor Day, we hoped for something simple and accessible.

Before that, however, the Grand Canyon of the East called. It was raining, and I knew that it would be difficult to peer into a deep canyon under those conditions. But with no idea when we would be this way again, it was not a drive to be missed. Shortly after we crossed into Pennsylvania, we came to the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, one of the best centers we have seen since the South Carolina Welcome Center during our 2007 cross country trip.

The Pennsylvania Welcome Center was one of the best I have seen in the country

Matt, the attendant on duty, was friendly and helpful, and even called around to find out where I could get free WiFi.

The attendant, Matt, was helpful and informative, and gave me a bag full of maps, directions, and brochures to help manage the day ahead. Scenic Route 6 is a beautiful drive rated by National Geographic as one of the best in the nation. It is over 400 miles long, following a route through several geographic divisions from the east to the western border of the state. We joined the route about midway and followed it as far as the Allegheny River.

The side trip to the canyon was lovely, in spite of the rain, and the state park had no entrance fee, so hiking around in the fog was OK. The canyon was shrouded in mist, except for a few moments when Pine Creek appeared thinly. I bought a great book, however, that I read aloud for the rest of the route. I learned about the geology, the landscapes, the history, both natural and human, of the great forest we drove through. We approached the highlands of the Allegheny Plateau, and for the first time I understood the relationship of ancient inland seas and glaciations in this part of the world.

It was a beautiful green day, punctuated by charming small towns filled with unique houses, and main streets that looked like they came from a Rockwell painting. In the afternoon, along the Allegheny River, Mo had a spontaneous moment and decided suddenly to cross the river to a small town called Tidioute. I still don’t have a clue how to pronounce that name, but I won’t forget the town!

We drove across the river and down the main street, continuing toward the edge of town, and the street just kept going. And going. And going. It kept getting more narrow, and there were no turnarounds to be found. After a few miles the trees started closing in and we finally decided to unhook the baby car and get turned around. whew. Once we hooked up again and headed back through town, I became enamored with the homes and buildings, and suddenly we realized that we had missed the bridge. The road was once again getting narrow and wandering off into who knows where. Garmin Girl showed a single road, with no side roads, no turnarounds. So once again we drove into a gravel driveway near the city reservoir and tried to unhook. Problem was that we were on a hill, and backing the MoHo with the car behind it isn’t as easy as backing a trailer. After some tries, we finally managed to get unhooked, turned around, managed to get rehooked and finally back across the Allegheny River!

The rest of the evening was uneventful, meandering through small towns until we reached I-80 and I-79 towards our chosen campground at the little town of Mercer. The camp is pleasant, with enough space between sites, with electricity, water, cable tv and seriously good WiFi! I made some chicken quesadillas for a simple supper and have enjoyed the time to read and write a bit, catching up with my kids and friends, checking the weather, and basically reconnecting with the world again.