Long Island Bound

Hello and greetings from western New Jersey.


We're en route to Long Island for the month of August and have stopped overnight just off Route 80 in Columbia, N. J. about 65 miles from NYC. We'll navigate the bridges and Cross Bronx Expressway tomorrow. We should hit the city mid day and hopefully not too much traffic. A lot will depend on the "orange cones"..............how much stimulus money is being used on the NYC roadway system.


We've been inundated with road work since we left the motor coach factory last Saturday. Ohio and PA are running through the "obama dollars" quicker than a Friday night paycheck in certain bars. Huge stretches of roadway are being repaved and bridge abutments replaced. Some roads in central PA don't seem to have enough traffic to warrant the work, but hey it's "free" federal money, right ?


Oh well, off my soapbox. We stopped in the central part of PA in Indiana County and the village of Brush Valley for a few days to research Laurie's relatives. Her great, great Grandfather, John C. Dick was born here and there are lots of people here who have the same last name. While we couldn't find a certified direct connection, we are 97% sure that this is where he was born and we know he moved onto New York shortly after 1850. He was in a Civil War regiment in New York.



John C. Dick, born 1833, died ????


We have more research to do and the exploring is fun. Ancestry.com sure helps and makes it easier. The picture is the only one we have and he is in his Grand Army of the Republic uniform. The GAR was/is a veterans organization for those that served in the Union Army during the Civil War.



So we'll be on Long Island beginning tomorrow and plan to have some fun with our family, especially our 3 grandchildren. We have a big surprise for them...........watch these pages to find out...........and we're hoping to see many of our friends as well.



I still have some more pics to post from the earlier blog and I hope to get to them later tonight.





Till next time,





Gene & Laurie

Better Late Than Never

Hello & Greetings from Northern Indiana. We're at the Newmar factory in Nappanee and have some repair work scheduled for Monday. Free camping, with full hookups while we are here too !
So, it has been awhile since I last posted something and lots has happened. I'll fill you in on the last 3 months and let you see some of the great places we've visited (and some of the not so great too) while we've criss-crossed this great country of ours.

We visited Page, Arizona and Lake Powell along with some beautiful slot canyons and a relaxing float ride down the Colorado River...........no rapids in this section just deep canyon walls and wonderful scenery.

Glenn Canyon Dam

Colorado River, south of the Dam and bridge

Lake Powell in northern Arizona

"Cruzin' down the River"

Spectacular scenery

"potty-break"

From there we headed east. As most of you know I was diagnosed with some medical issues this winter and the best place to get treated was in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins Hospital. We had a month to get there and started a slow trek east after Lake Powell. We also had to dodge the spring storms that plague the mid section of the country. We were fortunate and were either a day ahead or a day behind some really bad weather.

A quick stop in Albuquerque for a round of golf and to wait out a passing storm then onto Oklahoma and a visit to Weatherford. In the 1980's there was a big boom in oil exploration in this part of the state and Laurie's brother found work, friends and a good life for many years. After his passing in November we felt it appropriate to leave his ashes in some the parks and places he loved most.

Bruce was a biker and worked hard, played hard and lived a full life, especially here in Oklahoma. We actually found some folks who remembered him; found the places he partied at and left some of him there. An emotional farewell.

On to Memphis and the home of the Blues and Elvis ! We were fortunate to see Elvis live in 1969 on our honeymoon in Las Vegas and had always wanted to stop at Graceland. It's quite the tourist attraction, nee "trap" but he was a fabulous entertainer and musician and it was great to see his home and all the memento's of his life.

In her best "Vanna White" imitation !

Graceland

The "Lisa Marie"

Downtown Memphis and Beale Street also gave birth to the Blues and music is king in this city. The Gibson guitar factory is in the middle of downtown and we had a great tour of how they are made. Every Wednesday night is "Bike Nite" and Beale Street plays host to hundreds of "Bikers and Babes"; from Harleys to Honda's and Crotch Rockets to Scooters they all come to party and display their machines. Quite a site.

Bike Night on Beale Street, Memphis

A truly amazing creation

Beale Street

From there we were off to Jacksonville, Florida and a mini family gathering. My nephew is stationed there in the Navy along with his wife and newborn daughter and her baptism was scheduled for May 2nd. What better way to see family and celebrate a fabulous occasion. Chief Bryan was able to get us a site on base and we also got in a round of golf at Mayport Navel Station. Our campsite overlooked the lagoon and we enjoyed seeing the ships traverse the channel.

Kennedy O'Hagen's baptism

Ships lagoon at Mayport Navel Station

Bryan's ship

USS Philippine Sea

Plenty of family members joined in and it was good to visit with them. We even got to play some Bocce ball and enjoy a cookout at the campground.

Cousins: Bryan & Katy - Christian & Vanessa

We headed north to Baltimore and set-up in a small campground just outside the city. Expensive but it was right on the upper Chesapeake Bay and was the closest facility to JHH. Before my surgery we spent a week in PA near our old home and visited with friends, played some golf and traveled to LI for a much anticipated visit with daughters, grandchildren and son-in-law. My operation was on May 28th and everything went as planned. I spent 3 weeks recuperating and the time went by very fast. We did get in one day of sightseeing at the Inner Harbor and before we left took a side trip to St. Michaels for a night in a B & B and some good seafood. Love the soft-shell crabs !

We've belonged to a family camping organization for 35 years and they host a "campvention" each July. We've been to many (13) and this year it was on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, just above South Bend in small town called Berrien Springs.

From Baltimore we headed west, but we had lot's of time.

We stopped in Altoona, PA and visited the old PRR shops and toured a spectacular railroad memorabilia museum; we went to the famous Horseshoe Curve and "train-spotted" and it bought back many memories of my 32 year career in railroading.

A pair of NS haulers eastbound on the curve

Altoona Shops

A GG-1

PRR museum in Altoona

We've always driven by, through or around Pittsburgh but never stopped. This time we spent 4 days exploring this old steel city and the 3 rivers that surround it. Pittsburgh has a great art museum which we enjoyed exploring it and the downtown full of bridges. We took the Duck Boat Tour and actually got to go down the Ohio River in it.

River juncture, downtown Pittsburgh

The Ohio River

Overlooking the Rivers

A city of bridges and rivers.

We moved on to Dayton, Ohio and the home of the USAF Museum. Another stop on our "bucket list" and a fabulous display of aircraft and all things air force. We spent a full day exploring the exhibits and the Imax theatre and except for a really bad campground we enjoyed our stop.

Off to Indiana and some visits with friends. We met Mary & Roger on our way out of Alaska in '09 and have stayed in touch. They live in a small town in north west Indiana and we toured the area and enjoyed talking about our respective adventures.

Steve & his wife Linda lived on LI for 25 years and we worked on the RR together. He retired and returned to the family homestead in north central Indiana. They're campers too and we joined them at their lakeside campsite and enjoyed a great 4th of July and some really good fireworks.

We met Pat & Walter in eastern Indiana and backtracked to Berrien Springs and the 50th Reunion of Family Campers and RV'ers. We camped with folks from New York state and got to see many of our old friends from our years in the organization. It was hot, but we had 30 amp electric and water (no sewer) and we made the best of it. the entertainment was great; I played in a golf scramble and my team tied for 1st place.

That brings us to Nappanee and the factory. About a week here and then east. That also brings you up-to-date on our travels. We're having fun. We enjoy our lifestyle and look forward to many more sights and adventures.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

More Pics to come..............stay tuned !