PA, NY and OH

We've been travelling now for three and a half weeks.  Currently we're in the southeast corner of Kentucky, near Cumberland Gap.  So far, we've made a stop in PA, and spent considerable time in NY, and OH.

So what have we seen?  Here's a summary:

 In the Poconos we experienced an early fall -- the leaves were at their peak the last days of Sept.

 

In New York we saw the Grand Canyon of the East (Letchworth State Park) -- a spectacular gorge

 

with three waterfalls,

 

and learned about the history of the man who owned the property in the 1800's and left it to the people of NY. 

We visited a Seneca (Indian) museum and learned something about their history and culture, and we stopped in at the Seneca Casino in Salamanca, NY. 

 

 We toured Graycliff, a house on Lake Erie, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that is currently being restored;   and we climbed huge boulders at a place called Thunder Rocks at Allegany State Park (just over the state border from Allegheny State Park in PA -- note the different spellings). 

 

 

And everywhere, there were views of beautiful hills and valleys and spectacular fall color.

 

In Ohio we stayed at Geneva State Park on Lake Erie.  We lunched at a winery and saw some covered bridges.  We drove into Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- quite a fun and interesting time. 

 

And we had dinner with a distant cousin attending college in Cleveland. 

The only National Park in Ohio (Cuyahoga River Valley National Park) was our next stop.  (Well, actually, we stayed at a campground about 45 minutes away.)   The park is unusual for a National Park because it incorporates 7 towns within the park.  It was created in 2003 to protect the beautiful river valley.  The river has been used for transportation since the area was settled.  In the 1800's the Ohio and Erie Canal was built and was used until the early 1900's when the canal was replaced with a train.  Now, the canal is empty but the towpath has been converted to a multi-use trail that connects Akron and Cleveland.  The train is a tourist train that runs daily.  We toured the park by car and foot in cool weather and then, on a beautiful day, biked 10 miles on the trail.

 

 

 Our next home away from home was Caesar Creek State Park in the southwest corner of OH.  Here we were located about 20 minutes from relatives and we spent several days hanging out with family, running errands, shopping for groceries, and hitting the local restaurants.  The weather, again, was cool and rainy, so we didn't miss the outdoors.  Sunday, 10/22 was a beautiful day and we met our cousins at the Caesar Creek Dam, did some wandering in the area, enjoying the sunshine, and then went to dinner.  

On Monday we went to the National Air Force Museum in Dayton.  The place is huge and we were impressed with the enormous collection of planes from the Wright Brothers through to today's wartime aircraft.  We took a 2.5 hour guided tour of the highlights.  Our tour guide was full of information and interesting stories and facts and it was a fun and educational experience.   

 In all, our stay at Caesar Creek was a wonderful break in our travels to be able to spend time with family.

 

To see other highlights of these segments of our trip, click here: RVTravelsOctober2012