East Cast trip Day 6, supplement, September 23, 2023

 Cape Cod, Day 6  September 23, 2023

 These are a few of the photos from the trip to the Mashpee NWR, and the Barnes WMA both near our campsite. (Mashpee MA)

 

The Quashnet tribes lived here thousands of ears ago

A recent mill and attnding dam helped destroy the rivers

Those little "Beggar Ticks" were persistent.You cannot brush them off..

habitat for wildlife and the land.Restoration has begun.

                                                        

The entry to Barnes NWA land, grasses mostly,-no birds

                                                                                                                                                                            The rest of Barnes  WMA is Pine Barren and Oak.

 

Day 6, Cape Cod MA, Sat. September 23, 2023

September 23, 2023-- At Cape Cod. I am  going right to the jugular! Photos... as I think they are loading better. 

 With some patience we were able to download a few photos today. So here are a few of what we hope are more to come.  (See below)

On Saturday we awoke, to hear rain on the roof as the outerfinges of the Tropical storm Ophelia reached MA today  and will linger until Monday.  We will be at this site until Wednesday  so may still get more photos in the sun.

Our goal today was  find an Audubon Preserve. (Different from 'Reserve'  in that is privately owned.)  It was locted again on thesouth coast  of the Cape, and on a pennsula of large homes  named Poppenesset Peninsula. The Preserve has the same name. (Research did not show a source of the name.)

We did get there and drove over a small, cement, inclined bridge by the Marina, where we did actually see 4 species of waterfowl.  Cormorants, Mallards, California Gull and a Great Blue Heron. But finding the actual Preserve did not happen. There were some views of the water between the homes as we drove around the many streets that were on this small peninsula.  Very up-scale homes . At one time I stopped and asked a Mailman in his truck, but he did not know but guessed at where a "beach" was. We tried to reach that but only found dead ends at houses.

We did finally,  find a beach from an overlook at the end of a short road, but the wind was blowing the flag out straight, and the rian was biting. There were some Fish Crows there (Eastern seaboard type of crow).

It was time to head back and we both thought an "Ice Cream" would end the journey appropriately. Looked up ice cream places (GPS) but they were mostly closed, (September 23!!!), There was one place listed and didn't appear closed that was about  1/2 mile from our vehicle. We headed there and of course they were closed.

Heading for the trailer I told Ruth we would stop for gasoline and get "some ice cream". We did that  and I picked up two, (filled with calories and vitamin "D")., "Carmel Magnum Bars". No kidding they have 1250% of the daily need for  Vitamin "D">. Who knew? A good supplement in the winter when the sun is low.

We did get back to the TRL. and are having comfort supper of tomato soup and Toasted cheese sandwiches. We will see what tomorrow will bring with the rain. Rainy days...Laundry day? Letters, read, take a nap? (Who said that?)

Hope you are hanging in there with the fall season upon us.  We will continue to update you each day. 

Blessings,--Jim (Photos below!)

Looking out to the Atlantic Ocean

Looking out past Martha'sVineyard to the Ocean

A California Gull (Note green eyes)

Day 5, Trip East, Friday September 22, 2023

Day 5 at Cape Cod near Mashpee,MA ( Friday 9-22-23) 

 No light coming in the windows, let me know that it is dark out at 6:40 PM. Mainly because we are surrounded by a forest of trees but also because the sunset here is about one hour earlier then in Grand Rapids Michigan and points West.  Michigan being on the far Western edge of the eastern time zone. The Internet is up, and working, but it's quite slow, I may place the photos in the blog in the morning when it's not so busy. I did put one picture on the previous day's blog, so there is a photo for each entry. It was a real treat to be able to get up when we wanted, and not worry about hitching up the trailer and moving on down the road. That was more tiresome than I realized. So we will enjoy these days in one place for a week. So let's get started with the day.

At the beach on the south Coast of Cape Cod. That is Martha's Vineyard across the water.

 We did see 5 species of birds here  including , Little Gull, California Gull, Ring Billed Gull, Cormorant, and some Sanderlings, running swiftly along the beach.

 We had one main objective today and accomplished that much faster than we had anticipated. That was to explore the Mashpee NWR (National Wildlife Refuge), which is just a few minutes down the road . We found it easily and realized that it is a unique NWR as it has only trails, so no auto drives that we like to do. We did enter the parking lots to see what we could see a number of times, but not only found no birds, but some of the gates were closed and access was not possible. We tried three of the parking lots, but again no birds. This refuge is unique in that it has been brought back from private lands which surround it and it is parceled in many pieces. Hence getting around in it is difficult. (Rather 'piecemeal' arranged) 

  We had plenty of time left, so decided to start doing the lighthouses of which there are 14 in Massachusetts just on Cape Cod. The one we chose is at the southernmost Point of the Cape and has the name Nobska lighthouse. Driving these roads through places like Falmouth, on any day is a slow in winding process. (The roads are two lane, no shoulder, and the turns have no additional room for straying off the road. EVER! So we did take our time then saw the sights along the way. (Cemetaries,a "DQ", churches, statues, and great, huge, houses.) 

The drive does take us along the edge of the water as we reached the place where the lighthouse and the keepers quarters are located. It is a beautiful light and hopefully the photos will show (See next day) what that really means. There actually is a handicapped separate entrance with parking for them only, which avoids about 25 steps up to the lighthouse grounds. I did not see until after we had finished. The lighthouse was refurbished after a campaign of $5 million to put it in tip top shape. Then we headed for a WMA (Wildlife Management Area) donated by a woman by the name of Barnes, some years ago. It abuts up to The Joint Air Force Base here where fighter jets are based. We ended up at the guard station entering the base, where we realized that was not the wildlife area we were seeking. Fortunately the experienced guard at the entry station knew exactly where the Barnes WMA was located. We retreated and backtracked until we found the entrance. 

The road leading into it, passes by a very traditional native habitat, as the Quashnet Tribes had lived here for thousands of years but like many of the natives had been driven out by treaties and settlers in the 1800s. After many years of trying to use the land around it, it is now finally in the hands of those who will attempt to restore to its original shape. We are talking about the River called Quashnet, which is now a very small stream. Good luck on the re-doing of that River!  (See photos next day)

That was the end of today on the road and we got back to the trailer a little early, had some stretch time and sorting of photos and events. Supper was simple, with one of those frozen dinners that we packed in our freezer. Let me tell you what Ruth did? The dinners are packed in Hard plastic containers in our home freezer, then she took them them out and put them in saran wrap and aluminum foil, so they would not take as much room in the freezer and that increased the amount of food space, by about 30%. 

 A walk around the park after supper helped me stretch my legs. My sniffles and a cold seem to be subsiding and I feel much better and stronger. (Vick's vapo and menthol lozenges helped.) . Hopefully some photos will be in this message when you see it as I will load in the morning when the traffic on the Internet is much less. More lighthouses tomorrow!!!--Jim and Ruth

Day 3 and Day 4 East Coast trip (Sept 21 , 2023)

Day 4, September 21 ,2023 At Cape Cod MA I had skipped the Day3 on the blog but will update a little bit as we move in to day four. Traveling from Central New York near Albany and moving across the Hudson River into western Massachusetts (Connecticut River) we managed to get a campground really off the road near Otis, Massachusetts. 

After 19 miles of driving off the freeway, to the campground, we did get settled in what many would call a field with water and electric for the trailer. Comfortable and quiet. It was a very quiet night and not many birds, but when we started take a shower in the morning realized there was no water in the lines. When we started to take a shower in the AM there was no water in the lines. Talking with the owner she stated that there was a leak somewhere and no water in the tank and Ed was in the process of fixing it, but there would be no water until afternoon at the earliest . We got packed up without our usual shower, and headed out to I 90 by a different route avoiding that very difficult road with the trailer. It was a good move even though it took us almost 50 miles out of her way to get back to where we started the day before. The views of lakes and ponds off the freeway was refreshing.

 Moving eastward I noticed that the Rolling Hills we're pretty much eliminated after Springfield Massachusetts, and we were now in the "flatlands" of Massachusetts West of Boston heading down I-495, toward the Cape. The other thing that one notices in the Drive is that there are more pine trees as we are getting into what are known As the Pine barrens. Many of the islands along the east coast have that feature. We avoided one very long backup as our route took the exit ramp toward our destination. We didn't see any eagles today, nor we did you see any other birds of note. Ruth and I believe this was the day of our many trips that we saw the least number of birds. Just three. Masachusetts roads are similar to Michigan's in that some are OK others very potted and bumpy. 

Heading over the Cape Cod Canal Bridge

One of three bridges over the cnal. The Bourne (Seen here), The Sagamore, and the CCCRR Bridge. 

We had a really good view of the Cape Cod Canal (more on that later), and continued to our destination. It too was a very old and "not attended to" Campground so much so that the owner would not allow anybody into the office and worked from a window at the side. As I looked in I could see why she didn't allow anyone in. I could not describe the interior, as it had many items that were from 40 or 50 years ago that had been used in a store that was one time with the office. There was even a golf cart, tools, and old books and shelving that had not been moved in years. She worked completely by paper and pen. but did print the receipt out on a "machine". But she led us to the camp site on her golf cart, and we did get Settled in nicely. That evening we decided to have a dinner out. Went to a restaurant called "99" which is popular here on the East Coast. The meal was excellent and even though we didn't have lobster we both ended up having fish on our plates. I had a combination and Ruth settled for fish and chips. Jim had a large "cup"of seafood chowder, "Down East" style. YUM! So even though there are no photos again, I do believe we will get the camera and begin to get into the groove again tomorrow.. We are heading for the National Wildlife Refuge called Mashpee. It is just 15 minutes from us. The name comes from the Wapanoag Tribe who still live here. They were the original settlers. So hope to see you again tomorrow and we'll have an update on how it went out there on Cape Cod. Blessings, -- Jim

Day two East Coast trip.( 9-20-23)

Wednesday September 20, 2023 (This would be our daughter Mary's 60th birthday!)

It seems that today I can download a few photos as I have Internet and broadband in the park that is, well… out of the woods for sure. We are about 20 miles from any Highway of consequence, and took a very torturous winding, hilly, narrow, road to get here. Tomorrow we are going to try a different way out even know we have to back track some . It was another day of very beautiful scenery driving through the valleys and foothills of the lower New York state. That included passing by some points of interest like Cooperstown baseball Hall of Fame, Hudson river, crossed the Appalachian Trail, numerous small colleges and universities, and when we saw the limestone Cliffs in Granite rock , the Howe's Caverns appeared in view.

Seneca Casino  on I-86

                             I say good for theNative Americans who were forced off thos land.

                                                                         I-90 corridor

                                                Small patches of old farmland, much forest.
 

Purple aster and golden rod (Hundreds of milesf this)

Tioga Raceway next  to their casino, training surreys.

Another good view heading east. The same all the way.

Notice the selected fall colors. This was the only one.

                                                wonder why? Water, sun, air, soil, devas?

Approaching Albany NY, it was apparent that the New York Thruway and later the Massachusetts through way are main arteries to reach both New York city and Boston. We had never traveled on them before.

 So now, we are settled in a very quiet" fieldlike" campground, Very far away from the activities of New York. Tonight's blog will be brief, but will include a few of the photos I could not show before. It will give you a visual of the land geography geology that we went through. You can imagine how the Seneca loved this land and took care of it. Tomorrow we hope to be in Sandwich Massachusetts which is at the base of Cape Cod. As we get settled there will be more time for longer installments.

Happy Thursday.

 

Trailering from Michigan to the East Coast. (9-18-19, 2023)

Last getaway for Jim and Ruth. A trip to Massachusetts New Hampshire and Maine via Ohio Pennsylvania and New York. Its time to end the trailering with this trip. Anyone want to buy a 15-year-old trailer in good shape? 

 

 

 

The first day was quite uneventful traveling from Grand Rapids through Toledo and Cleveland to the small town at The edge of Pennsylvania called Conneaut. It was one short overnight in a very quiet campground and a very long trip for us covering some 370 miles. We were both pretty tired when we got there. So The advice is shorter trips, and the rest of the trip was scheduled that way. The second day was more to our liking with the forests of southern New York similar to Pennsylvania, at least we thought so, as the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains begin to rise more the further we drove east.

Entering central NY on I-90. Foothills of Catskills.

One of the more fascinating pieces of geology is the Genesee Valley that was first inhabited by the Seneca tribes of the Iroquois nation. Of course in the "Treaty of Tall Trees, 1789", the Seneca were moved out of that area and speculators were given thousands of acres of the land to sell to settlers coming west. There are so many sad stories about the treatment of our native people. Don't get me started. DO NOT HAVE BROADBAND HERE SO UNABLE TO DOWNLOADPHOTOS...TOMORROW? So tonight we are settled just outside of Corning New York in a little Town called Campbell. Hence the park name Camp Bell campground. We are tucked away in the farthest corner near a huge woodlot so it is very quiet. At this time of year they're not many temporary campers moving in and out of the Parks, and all of the seasonal campers come only on the weekends. Lower New York state is very wooded as a few of these photos will indicate. There's not much else to give pictorially. As we usually do our stops for lunch that are brief and usually in the trailer. On Monday we did stop at Hardees in one of the mandatory rest areas on I-90. Not our favorite lunch. Today we ate in the trailer and ate what we wanted. Tomorrow we continue eastward heading for western Massachusetts, as Massachusetts is slightly south of New York. We hope to be in Sandwich, MA, by Thursday. That's a starter for this blog and I probably won't submit tomorrow, but again after I get to the East Coast. Sandwich is just less than a half mile from the coast. Fact I never new.... St. Bonaventure U is in Allegheny NY just off I-90. THey had a great Basketball team and were in the finalfour in the late 60's and 1970. It is opersted, still, by the Franciscans. . Blessings to all

MI Day 46 Saturday July 23, 2022, From North Utica IL,to Grand Raids MI

 (Sat evening...Gonna post in the morning.  Pretty tired  tonight. Highlights, --Big storm in Il,--- sewer hose  dragged along on I-80 in 5 lane traffic.  See ya!)

Story coming!

NEXT DAY -FEEL STRONGER

Here we go  on the last day of this 6 1/2 week trip to Montana and back. It ended up that the toughest driving of the entire trip was on this leg.

It started smooth enough, although we had a large rain over night in North Utica IL but by morning it had passed and the skies were clear again. We were on the road by 9:15 and headed east on I-80 all the way to Indiana where we would pick up I-94 to Michigan.

We made a few stops for gasoline and we had hoped for an Arby's for lunch but they were not available or present.  We did stop for gas and  had lunch at a Burger King where there was parking for cars and truck. That can be an issue if you start to pull in and there is not adequate room. We have parked on adjacent roads and streets many times.

The approaching storm  at Joliet IL

There was some wind but not severe.

The storm lingered for quite a while

 

We could see in the NE and  east, a storm building up as we approached Joliet, where there was also much construction on the highways. Just outside  Joliet the storm  hit and it was strong. Most vehicles had slowed to 50 mph or less,  but traffic still moving. I had my wipers on full speed. Then the road suddenly went really bad. This, we calculated, was the roughest , bumpiest, and chuck hole filled road we had ever traveled on with the trailer. No question!  It went on for about 20 miles before another  part of the road was smoother. All the time the rains were pummeling the road. We had hit some chuckholes along the way but none so extreme and for so long a stretch of road. One stretch of concrete highway  had those undulations that give you a workout, but nothing near this intensity  for so long.

We finally got onto good road  and the rain diminished, but lasted another hour or so. This led to many closed lanes on the interstates, both the 4 lane ,the 3 lane and the 2 lane all the way into Mchigan on I -196.

I think in total that day we had 15 different road stoppages or slow downs (0-5 mph) until we were well into Michigan. There was some work on I-196 but it did not slow us down much.

During that last stretch on I-80, a large truck ,who was next to us in one of those very slow. slow downs rolled his window down and  said  we were dragging a sewer hose.  UGH! I was  in the middle lane of five lanes, but after a few miles managed to pull over on an exit to look at what happened. The passenger side of the hose cap had dislodged  (Maybe there were some bumpy roads...HA!)  and the end 5 feet of hose had become useless after all that dragging. The hose (it is in two sections) at the other end was fine and can be used.  I put them in the bed of the truck and we continued on the way.

The storm begins to clear around Gary IN

Our last camping spot had many birds in Utica IL

That tall IL corn. Note mailbox at 4.5 feet height

 

At the junction of I-94 and I-196 there is a newly designed  exit where  I misread the signs, in spite of Ruth's warning, and ended up on I-94 headed for Detroit. UGH again! So it was a six mile drive to the exit and return to the I-196 ramp again. There were signs at the turn around, so I think the DOT knew that people would miss that exit as it moved differently than before.  ( I imagined there was a sign there that said "Hey ,Jim, this is for you !")

***We did have a winner in the Bird guessing contest. We saw 163 birds and on the last day saw two new for this trip. That changed the  standing on the last day,  as two others could have won had two birds not been added to the totals on the last day. So, (drum roll!)  Annie Buckel-Parrish was the winner with her guess of 167, which was one bird closer than Emil Jenson (168). Congratulations to Annie.

 But the rest of the ride was smooth and error less.  We arrived home at 4:30 PM, tired but safe.  Bed time for me was 9:00 PM which is a tad early. Thanks for reading and following along if you did. It was a great trip and we will catch you again when we travel, ...next time.