One of the things we try to do as much as we can, is to leave our trips as unplanned as possible. This does a couple things: First, it keeps me from fretting about time and what we have and haven’t done etc. If we don’t have a hard timeline, then we can take as much or as little time at places as we want, and if we see something interesting, we can just stop.

One of those places we decided to randomly stop at was the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.

I am fascinated by old vehicles.

First, I love the way many older cars look.

Secondly, I read a lot of historical mysteries and romances–some of my favorites are those that weren’t historical when they were written (like Arthur Conan Doyle & Agatha Christie).

It’s one thing to read about a doctor’s buggy…

…or a stage coach…

…or a WWI military ambulance.

It’s something else entirely to see that vehicle in person.

To imagine packing all your worldly goods and everything you’d need to build a homestead into a Conestoga wagon and taking off for parts unknown.

Or to be rushing through London streets in a Hansom cab (or even worse, to be thrown from atop a carriage in an accident).

The carriage suddenly jolted violently, knocking her to the floor, and for a split second, it felt as if the whole of it would tip on its side. But after a few terrifying heartbeats, it slammed back down to the road and came to an abrupt stop.

…

Bess’s voice came from the other side of the carriage and Winnefred’s calm disappeared in an instant. Bloody hell, the girl had been thrown from the top of the carriage.
—Nearly a Lady by Alissa Johnson

You observe that you have some splashes on the left sleeve and shoulder of your coat. Had you sat in the centre of a hansom you would probably have had no splashes, and if you had they would certainly have been symmetrical. Therefore it is clear that you sat at the side. Therefore it is equally clear that you had a companion.”
— The Adventure of the Creeping Man by Arthur Conan Doyle

So I was delighted to stumble across this transportation museum and be able to take my time looking at all the different vehicles, and maybe tie them into the stories I’ve read that featured them.

My dad always had aquariums.

When I was little, there were tropical fish, but later, after Brian and I were both grown, he got his first salt-water tank. Brian took that when we sold my parent’s house, and several of the fish my dad had bought survived Brian’s move to South Carolina.

Which is a long way of saying that aquariums make me think of my dad.

I had my own tropical fish for a while, but our house is small, and when Grandmom moved in, the fishtank (and a lot of other stuff) had to go to make space.

I never got another tank, even when we had room. They take maintenance, and I’m a little too lazy, which is why I love visiting aquariums when we travel. No work on my part, plus the kinds of creatures I enjoy watching you can’t have in a home tank anyway.

So this trip was planned around two aquariums: Mystic Aquarium, and Adventure Aquarium.

Mystic Aquarium was the first we visited, and I found I really enjoyed walking around Mystic. (And eating all the fresh seafood.)

Because I am terrible at paying attention to details, we discovered that much of Mystic Aquarium is outdoors.

And it was raining that morning.

I took very few pictures there, although I of course got some of my favorites.

I love watching jellyfish. Unfortunately, the rooms that hold them tend to be small and loud and echo-y, so that removes most of the relaxation factor.

I stripped all the sound from the videos. You’re welcome.

We went to Adventure Aquarium in the middle of our stay in Philadelphia. Travel-wise we’d probably have been better going on Friday, but aquariums can get busy and crowded, so we opted for a Wednesday.

Not sure it made much of a difference, as it was stroller day, and there were multiple school groups.

These were all kinds of creepy.

I mean, seriously creepy.

Luckily, there were some of the more calming species to watch.

Both aquariums were nice, but neither was a favorite I’d want to necessarily go out of my way to visit again.

Let me say first, there is something seriously wrong with Pennsylvania.

We went to multiple state parks, and there was not a SINGLE postcard to be purchased at any of them. I get that not as many people send cards and letters these days, but it’s not like postcards expire, or go stale and have to be thrown away.

And I doubt they’re THAT expensive to print. So: what the hell PA? Sure some of the places we stopped weren’t that exciting, but some of them were gorgeous and stunning and amazing–so very many missed postcard opportunities.

We attempted to avoid Interstates as much as possible, enjoying the scenery of back roads and trying to stop at places that looked interesting.

Our first stop was Bald Eagle State Forest which ended up being a brief stop, since where we ended up didn’t have much hiking. So after a quick scenic view, we moved on.

Winkleblech Vista

We went onto the Street of Shops in Lewisburg which was listed in one of the PA books as an interesting place to see.

I texted that picture to my brother with the quote, “Read the TV Guide, you don’t need a TV.”

It was strange and interesting and a lot. It quite literally had a little bit over everything.

We had a fun wander, but I got a bit overwhelmed so we moved onto Sellinsgrove where our hotel for the night was.

Michael starting off his vacation right

Then we took a short hike at Shikellamy State Park.

Why, you ask, did we choose a hotel in Sellinsgrove? Because it was ALSO for Shamokin Dam, and how could we not visit a place called Shamokin Dam?

But also because it was close to where we wanted to hike the next day: Ricketts Glen State Park.

This is why I couldn’t believe the state parks didn’t have postcards.

I mean, the Falls Trail has twenty one waterfalls.

It wasn’t an easy hike, at 5.7 miles of steep and rocky trail, but it was the perfect day for hiking, and the scenery was gorgeous.

The next day was a scenic drive through the Delaware Water Gap with some hiking.

Then eastward, for our first aquarium. (Aquariums in a separate post.)

Following a day of aquarium, wandering the town, and eating lots of seafood, we had another day of scenic driving with some hikes thrown in.

First stop was Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center for a hike along Bushkill Creek.

Then a wander around Ringing Rocks Park.

The final stop of the day was Ralph Stover State Park.

Then onto Philadelphia, where stayed and explored for several days.

I know I’ve barely kept this place going in the past couple years, but then, the past couple years have been a lot.

Being off social media has been good for my mental health, but not good for keeping in touch with people. And I don’t have places to share the random things I see or think about.

Which is of course what this was supposed to be back when I set it up in… 2003.

Wow. This place is old enough to legally drink.

Anyway.

We took a week off work to do some scenic driving, hiking, wandering, and sightseeing, and although my picture taking is not back up to what it was, I did take pictures of some of the things I found interesting, so I’ve got a couple things to share.

October Travels:
Pennsylvania State Parks
Aquariums
Historic Vehicles
Historic Ships and Also SCIENCE

We finally made it to the Grand Canyon! (If you’re friends with me, it’s quite possible you already know this because I sent approximately a million post cards.)

I love taking the train. I relaxed and read for two days to Arizona and two days back east.

Once we got to the park, we saw there were lots of people there, even though it was mid February; I can’t imagine what it’s like there at the height of tourist season. I imagine I would have not enjoyed myself anywhere near as much.

Something I’ve noticed before is that I really don’t love the mountains in the west. I finally figured out why: a lot of the landscape there looks to me like areas of West Virginia after strip mining and mountain top removal–bare rock with maybe a single species of trees. I eventually recognized what was bothering me, and it helped a bit to acknowledge this was natural and not human destruction, but I do prefer my worn-down, lived-in Appalachians.

In Grand Canyon National Park, we hiked about a mile and a half down the Hermit’s Trail, but never went further in/down. I think I’d like to take a mule down and up, but maybe not hike the whole way. Coming out felt like the hardest mile and a half we’ve ever done, and we weren’t pushing ourselves.

But it was an amazing hike and view.

But I think my favorite things in the park were Hermit’s Rest …

… and the Desert View Watchtower …

… which were designed by Mary Colter in 1914 and 1932.

In the tower I loved how the small windows forced you to focus on one part of the landscape, instead of trying to take in everything.

Since we had a week, we took some time and visited Walnut Canyon National Monument …

… Glen Allen Dam, Horseshoe Bend, Lee Canyon, Wupatki National Monument …

… and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Sunset Crater Volcano was fascinating, and I kept wondering how much of what we were seeing was “normal” and how much was from the 2022 Tunnel fire.

Regardless, it was all fascinating.

Although I uploaded a ton of pictures to iNaturalist, trying ID the various flowers, trees, and shrubs, I also saw a variety of more mobile creatures. (And also uploaded them to iNaturalist)

I mean, look how adorable!!!!

Long-claw Hermit Crab Pagurus longicarpus

Common Eider Somateria mollissima

Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle

Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina

Common Loon Gavia immer (with chicks!)

Green Frog Lithobates clamitans (hiding in a tamarack)

American Bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus

Once again I was desperately wishing for a good zoom lens when I was trying t get good pictures of these creatures whose details I couldn’t make out with the naked eye. But I don’t think I did too bad with what I had.

Since we were in Maine for several days, we managed to visit some places we might not have otherwise.

One was Lamoine State Park. It seemed to be mostly a boat launch, but it was late evening and overcast, so it was perfect for a walk along the beach.

Where I got to look at more rocks.

The tide was out, and I eventually discovered what was crunching under my feet.

At which point I moved up from the water line and mostly hopped from rock to rock where I could see there were no snails.

Which is fine because that’s where the fascinating rocks were.

I mean.

OK, yeah, I also enjoyed looking out across the water. That was fine.

Since we were in the area for several days, we had lots of time to explore Acadia, which was nice, since it let us explore instead of having to hit all the highlights before we ran out of time.

Were the places I wanted to hike we didn’t? Definitely. But that’s true for just about every place except Coopers Rock SF.

The first thing we did was (of course) take a scenic drive of the area. I got one of the driving guide books at the visitor center, and we used that to guide us.

We also did a short-ish hike on the Gorham Mountain trail.

We also accidentally hiked up to Bubble Rock.

How do you accidentally hike up to a ridge line? Failing to look at the map and a stubborn refusal to turn around are the answer.

Of course I best liked (wait for it!) the rocky shores.

The next day we did the drive up Cadillac Mountain.

The view was amazing, but there was very little shade, so it was not my favorite spot of the visit.

The drive on Schoodic Point was gorgeous.

We also did some walking on the Carriage roads, which were fascinating in and of themselves, nevermind the scenery

And I was delighted to get to see new wildlife.

Our second stop in Maine (the first was the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens) was Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park.

I spent a lot of time walking on and scrambling around the rocky shore. (I may or may not have been singing Birdhouse in your Soul while doing so.)

Yeah, that’s a nice view and all.

BUT THESE ROCKS ARE AMAZING!

SUCH AMAZING ROCKS!

Also, I listened to the ocean a bit.

But really, it was mostly the rocks.

There’s a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores
And kept the beaches shipwreck-free
Though I respect that a lot
I’d be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off
And countless screaming Argonauts

One of my goals for this trip was to check three more states off my “visited” list: Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Also, I don’t much care for interstates, so we took primarily back roads on our drive to Maine. And two of my proposals were to drive through the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

We spent so long at the Botanical Garden we visited in New York we didn’t get any stops in the Green Mountains of Vermont, but had a scenic drive the next day through the White Mountains.

I have to say that aside from our stop, New Hampshire was kind of disappointing and I’d rather have spent more time in Vermont.

But that stop me made?

Excellent.

At the start of the White Mountain Scenic Route is Flume Gorge State Park. It was a pretty hefty admission fee to get in, but since it was vacation, we splurged.

It was worth it.

It starts out somewhat slow, and you walk up to a cascade down a hill of rock.

Pretty, but I’ve hiked places like that in West Virginia–and could go out on the rocks.

Then you come to a boardwalk that runs alongside the Flume Brook.

Then, up ahead, you can see the walls starting to narrow and the creek getting louder.

The gorge narrows and is stunning.

Then you come to the waterfall.

But that’s not the end. You walk gravel trails (some steep) to high point where you can look into the valley.

Through some more forest and finally across a bridge above the Pemigewasset River.

There is more of a walk through the forest, on a very well maintained path, some large trees, lots of wild flowers, and glacier boulders.

So, despite how expensive it was, I very much enjoyed the walk.

But I’d still like to go back to Vermont to hike in the Green Mountains.

Hard to believe, but we actually left the house for an extended period of time.

It was weird.

I’m still not ok being indoors unmasked (and I’m never ok with crowded places). Luckily, we spent the majority of our time outdoors.

We drove to Maine with my mother, and our first stop was a place we visited a decade ago: Hickory Run State Park.

The main draw is the boulder field.

I can hear you being unimpressed, so… do you see the people in the above picture?

Does that help? Do you see the person in the red jacket? And all the people past them?

This picture of Michael? There are at least twelve people behind him to the left, and at least one behind him to the right.

This boulder field is more than 20,000 years old. It’s a giant lake of boulders stretching 400 feet by 1,800 feet, and as deep as 12 feet in places.

It’s very hard to walk on (I wished I’d had two hiking sticks and not just one) but very much worth it to go out even a few feet and to see just how stunning the boulder field truly is.

Just don’t look down too closely.

So very many giant spiders.

There are other things to do in the park, and we did manage a brief hike.

We would have taken a longer hike, but when it rained on us, we headed back.

I did get this short clip of Sand Spring Run along the trail.

Because I’m me, the other thing I paid a great deal of attention to in Fairbanks was the trees. The boreal forest (Taiga) is beautiful.The trees are very different from what I’m used to here, mostly being black spruce, white spruce, and birch, and all of them tall with thin trunks.

These last two are probably my favorite pictures of the trip.

I wish I’d been more acclimated to the cold, because I could have spent quite awhile wandering along this creek / stream and finding others like it. But hopefully we’ll get to visit again and I’ll be more prepared for the cold.

As I live along a river, I tend to orient myself to water. I found myself unable to do this in Fairbanks, possibly because much of the water was frozen. Also, because I didn’t walk as much as I normally do, because I wasn’t really acclimated to the temperatures during our short visit.

But I did get to walk along the river, which was good.

SO! MANY! DUCKS!

If I’ve been quieter than normal recently, it’s because we were getting ready for our big trip–heading north to visit Tania in Alaska! HUZZAH!

My goals were simple: Spend time with Tania and see the aurora. Both goals were accomplished! Although all my pictures of the aurora were blurry and out of focus, I didn’t mind, since I actually got to see the aurora, and it was amazing.

If you’ve spent much time reading here, you know that we spend a lot of time driving WV roads. Which are pretty abysmal. So of course I was interested in the Fairbanks roads and how very different they were from WV roads. First, being covered in snow was normal. Second, the scenery was so different from what I’m used to, I kept starting at it in fascination.

The angle of the light also made things look even more gorgeous than they already were.

Here are some of the roads Tania drives regularly.

Even more exciting, I got to expand my skill set and drive Tania’s car for a bit!

This may seem a strange place to start with our trip, but in rural areas transportation is how communities survive (or not) so I can’t help but be fascinated.