With the parks in New
Hampshire and Vermont shuttered for the season I head west transitioning into New York. The weather is starting to swing
into winter, and I pick up some rain showers then some heavy rain reminiscent
of riding I-90 the turnpike a couple of years ago. As the vans massive wipers
do their job, I think its nicer to be in here than out there.
Not knowing what to expect in a state that is normally associated with a massive city, I discovered The Glimmerglass State Park on the shore of Lake Otsego. This park must be one happening places in the summer, as it has a massive sandy beach for swimming, complete with showers, picnic tables, and rooms you can rent for your special event.
The park itself was the
former estate of George Clarke who inherited 120,000 acres of American Property
from his great grandfather Colonel George Clarke. He probably needed the land more than anyone that
might have been living there.
The campsites came with electricity, mine was mostly level. There
was water available, and a sewer drain, and maybe best of all since the park
was getting ready to close for the winter, the entire inventory of ice cream
was being liquidated for $1.00 per ice cream bar. It still counts as exercise
if you walk up to the camp store daily to get a ice cream.
Another nice spot I discovered is Cayuga in the finger lakes
region. Make sure to spell the name for
the park reservation agent or you might end up in the wrong park. This time of year,
this park was a peaceful place to stay a couple of days, but this is a large
campground with 200 or so sites. Mine had electricity, that I was glad for as
it has been cloudy and rainy for the past couple of days. Not the best days to
charge batteries by solar.
On my way out of New York I encountered humans that have decided that the year 1802 is as far as they need to go.
Little does this fellow know that he ain’t going to heaven
cuz his soul and the souls of his horses are now captured in my camera. I hope they don’t
mess with the part of Ansel Adams brain that’s in there too.
I cruised through Pennsylvania mostly because it was raining. It rained so
hard that it washed most of the bugs off the van with a name. That was welcome as I could not find a wash that
I could fit into.
Another reason to get through Pennsylvania was I wanted to
get up to Lake Erie in Ohio and visit Garfield’s house. The presidents not the
cat.
Garfield has been an interest ever since reading Candice Millard's book Destiny of the Republic.
Much of the book takes place right there along Lake Erie
just a little northeast of Cleveland.
The site is run by the National Park Service. To look is free. The buildings
have been expertly preserved, and every artifact inventoried, and accounted
for.
It was a great place to spend the afternoon, and even better that the pouring rain stopped about the same time as my arrival.
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