The epic conflict...

Acadia National Park holds a special place in my heart ... Daphne and I went there for our honeymoon.  In November.  Perhaps against the standard tourist conventional wisdom, but the cold weather and early sunsets work into a honeymoon schedule pretty well.
Given Sophia's love of coastlines, I knew she would also love this park and I was right on.  Despite the north wind and mid-20s temps, she stayed by the water for hours, taking photos, watching the tide roll in, and absorbing the environment where ocean relentlessly pounds against granite.  The stoic outcrops jut their chins towards the water and the ocean never ceases its assault, withdrawing with the moon, only to come surging back and flail against its obstinate opponent.
The north wind did knock the tops off the normal tidal assault on Thunder Hole, where the combination of rising tide and wave action in an eroded cave just below the surface creates a thunderous boom and can send spray a hundred feet into the air.  She waited patiently for the big boomer, but had to settle for rumblings and not getting soaked by frigid Atlantic water!

...and I mean, she waited a long time.

One of the numerous angular "coves" where surf meets land.  The clear water at the bottom of the photo is probably 10' deep.

Sand Beach was deserted.

Bucket list item for me...

Something about grouse hunting turns hunters into writers, whether it's Ortega or Hill or any of a number of others.  Their printed musings have many times led me to close my eyes with their books lying opened on my chest and drift away to the coverts of New England, where the air is crisp and full of the musty smells of Fall; where moss-covered stone walls tell stories of hard work and husbandry and dreams either failed or forgotten; where clear streams run through dark woods, mirroring the windows of bright blue sky that peek through the treetops; where orchards drop their annual produce upon the forest floor for enjoyment by fur and feather and the occasional hunter; where side-by-side shotguns drape over fallen logs, as hunter and pup enjoy a snack of cheese and crackers.
It's a special, ancient and cherished place, a place I've wanted to visit since Kali and me started chasing around the country together.
And with a little home work and a brief visit in a NFS office in New Hampshire and a little bit of bushwhacking ... we found it.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Hamill enjoyed the frozen parking area...

Another birdy day

I suppose one could just go for a walk in the woods with his camera with the sole purpose of walking, communing with Nature, and taking photos.  But, like it or not, I'm a hunter and my jacket can carry the camera as well as shotgun shells.
Doesn't mean I don't stop to enjoy the beauty where the wild things are.  And try as I might, can't get Kali to stop and appreciate the effort that went into a centuries-old stone fence, dusted with snow.  She clears it and sniffs on, but Sophia and I get to take a break, blow warm air into our hands, speculate on the hows and whys, and just enjoy being there.  For the record, still no shots fired on all of the pretty "hunts."

The Vermont Institute of Nature Science (VINS) is a rescue facility for injured birds, primarily raptors, but others as well.  Most patients are struck by cars and can't be reintroduced into the wild, so they serve as "ambassadors" to the general public.
This guy has spent a long time at VINS and is apparently excited to have company.  He talked with us for quite a while.  Just love owls...

The two bald eagles had also been with VINS for a long time and screeched excitedly when we approached - not a lot of visitors on a cold damp day.  Soph got some great video of one from about two feet, chatting away.  Being that close really gives appreciation for how large they are.  And those beaks ... sheesh.

 

VINS is worth the visit if you're in the area.  You can also donate to their efforts at the following link.  They take in birds form across the country and are set up for all sorts of medical treatment.  While it's unfortunate some birds can't be returned (even the ones that eat quail and grouse), it is amazing that VINS has had some ambassadors for 30 years!

 

http://www.vinsweb.org/

 



Vermont

Vermont is beautiful and interesting with too much to describe, so we'll just let the photos do most of the talking.
This was the first covered bridge Sophia got to cross in a vehicle.  Don't think she exhaled until we were back on pavement.  There a bridge every 15 miles in VT/NH, but we usually stop to look and see 'cause they're just so cool!

I love general stores, especially those run by octogenarians that spent 19 months serving at Ft Sam in the early '60s.  The fact that Doug also sells hunting licenses, bologna, Vermont syrup, Vermont wine, 12-cent coffee because it was 12-12-12, and just about everything else one could need.  Yep, spent more time in here than several of the national museums we'd been to...

The Vermont Marble Museum was closed for the season, but did learn some cool stuff about it - knew granite was igneous, but wasn't aware marble was sedimentary, for instance...

And learned too much about maple syrup at the New England Maple Museum.  Ended up confused - can't decide if I like the light Grade A or the heavy Grade B better on waffles...dilemmas!

 

 And while wandering one of the "paths least taken," happened upon this...

 



Saratoga

Usually the Battle of Saratoga gets mention as the "turning point" in the American Revolution because the untrained militia men and ragtag Continental Army defeated the mighty British, thereby encouraging the French to join the rebels.  But being on site and seeing the terrain and grasping the two weeks of conflict which led to the Brits' surrender makes me think it merits greater attention in the textbooks and classrooms.  It has all of the elements of military drama, not the least of which includes Benedict Arnold's mad dashes across the field rallying the troops and threatening to quit the army because of General Gates reluctance to attack.  Guerrilla tactics, redoubts, light infantry charges, seizing and turning artillery ... really dramatic stuff!  Ultimately it was supply issues and lack of promised reinforcements that led to Burgoyne's surrender, even though he would use the term as her proffered his sword.
This is the view from the park HQ towards the Hudson River and the battlefield.

The LED lights might not show up very well in this photo, but I credit this park with the best representation of the tactics and troop movements using the red and blue lights to show the entire back-and-forth of the two weeks of combat.  Ten minutes of narrative while watching the movement of the troops represented by these lights and we both agreed we had the best visualization of any battlefield we'd visited so far.  This sort of presentation would have been wonderful at Little Bighorn!

This monument was erected by the folks of Saratoga in 1877, the centennial of the Battle, right next to Victory Woods where the surrender occurred ... standing on history again!

In a New York taste of mine

One upside to being stuck in one location for an extended period of time is the chance to try a myriad of eateries ... so we did.
First meal was at Tom's Diner in Lockport where the Italian sausage hoagie was very street-vendor and the pies were laudable.  I had a slice of apple that probably would rate 4.5 stars except it was served cold.  The apples were crisp and cinnamony and the topping was a very good crumble.  The crust was thin but perfect.  Sophia ordered Nutella pie which is made with the gacky stuff that's part elephant poop, part pecan shells, and shouldn't ever end up in something as important as pie.  She said it was tasty...you'll have to refer to her blog (like it seems everyone does anyway) for her description...


We also had a dinner at Garlocks where I was served a two-rib pork chop I swear was two inches thick, but cooked perfectly - not easy to do with pork.  And the Italian fare at DeFlippos was also exceptional.  All-in-all, Lockport was a pretty good place to have transmission failure.
Speaking of which, can't brag enough on the guys at Redline Automotive.  Truck was actually ready on Monday evening!  But we were settled in the motel, so we waited until Tuesday morning to resume or wanderings ...
Which took us through Saratoga Springs where we decided to try Karavilli Indian.  I had my benchmark dish for Indian restaurants, Saag Paneer, and theirs was not as cheesy I'm used to, but more spinachy which is a good thing too!  But the appetizer we ordered (the Indian name escapes me) was basically a shrimp tikka masala served with puffed wheat bread and was so good I could have just eaten the masala with some basmati and been been completely content.

For breakfast the next morning, we decided to let the mojo carry us where it would, including through two towns and past numerous cafes until we stopped at Lynn's, where they were just pulling their home made sugar cookies from the oven.  So we had those for breakfast appetizers.  But Soph's biggest praise was for the white-chocolate chip cranberry muffins!

Best grouse hunt ever...

Never thought I'd be the guy to say that I love hunting in New York!  I know, get a rope, right!?  Have to say it was a completely positive experience from the very beginning.  The woman that sold us our licenses at the NYSDEC in Buffalo was friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and we really enjoyed visiting with her.  Of course, losing the hunting rig for four days put a bit of a crimp in our fun, but we pressed the Impala to its limits in pursuit of the elusive ruffed grouse...
Actually, the favorable impression began back in September when a DEC biologist traded several e-mails with me about likely habitat.  He suggested we try Tioughnioga WMA south of Cazenovia, so that's where we slid in the front-wheel drive on top of the melted lake effect ice and snow.
We started off on a WMA trail, but didn't like the cover, or the fact that there were boot prints, so we moved off trail to find better cover and the birds the lazy hunters hadn't already.  Since the weather had been pretty crummy, we headed for the nearby fir trees since they provide better foul weather protection.  Had to back/hack our way through brambles and briars to get there - the kind of stuff grouse love.  Sure enough, big ol' pile of grouse poo under the first fir!  Wonder if there's anyone on the planet that gets as excited about upland poop as I do?  At least confirmed our strategy, so we struggled down slope through the thick stuff with Kali casting just below.
Leveled out at the bottom of the slope where some beavers had turned the stream into a series of ponds and bogs - also favorable habitat for ol' ruffy and Sophia's first up-close experience walking across beaver dams, inspecting gnawed trees, etc.
While I was pointing out the catkins, or aspen buds, that grouse eat during the fall and winter, Kali went on point on the other side of a berry thicket.  The two grouse flushed wild, but Sophia was also able to experience the distinctive explosive rumble of a flushing forest grouse.
We crashed up the hill we had just come down in unsuccessful pursuit of the birds, then wandered back down towards the beaver ponds.  Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through really beautiful forest, ducking under firs, oaks and aspens, backing through impossible tangles of briars, admiring the industrious beavers' activity.  No more points or flushes, but moving two birds after solving the upland puzzle with Sophia and showing her everything I had learned over the years was as good as I could hope for...

Sophia gasped in horror and said my face was bleeding, so I consented to a supposedly horrific photo since you're supposed to be getting swatted in the face when you're in the right grouse cover...yeah, not as bad as she thought.

My hunting buddies in some epically beautiful forest.



An Erie place

Lockport is named for the Flight of Five locks which elevated boats headed west by 59' through the series of five locks.  The exhibit in the museum allowed Sophia to experiment with the lock gates and water flow and was very interesting.  Pretty complex problem.  The entire Erie Canal was funded by private enterprise and completed by 1825, effectively connecting NYC harbor with the commerce on the Great Lakes, plus all of the timber and ag in between and was a huge success.  Remind me a lot of why I love toll roads so much these days...

Even though usage is purely for recreational boats these days, the facilities are still an amazing representation of American ingenuity and drive from the 19th century.

The Erie Canal region increased commerce across a wide swath of NY state as the Finger Lakes region was tied in along with the Mohawk River.
In Seneca Falls in 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a number of other strong-willed and forward-thinking women and men joined for a convention on womens' rights in the Wesleyan Chapel which still stands.  Was obviously a long time 'til the 19th Amendment in 1920, but the Womens' Rights NHP is an interesting place to track the movement and its impact on American History.
Maybe it's having a strong Mom and two older sisters that started me along the path of always assuming women were superior to men?!  Took me a while to figure out what all the fuss what about...

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is an up-close look at hydro power if there ever was one!  Two things we definitely learned ... the water is amazingly clear - rock bottomed Niagara River means clear water going into the falls and pretty turquoise water below.  And, the wind has a lot to do with whether the mist is a pretty part of a your photo or drenching you.  Tried to be a quick learner on that one, for our cameras' sake.  This is Horseshoe Falls -

A look at the Observation Tower and American Falls...

And the view of American Falls (left) and Horseshoe Falls from the Observation Tower.  That's Toronto on the right.

Not much "wildlife" in the park, but this little guy was intent on following Sophia everywhere and driving Kali nuts...

Speaking of nuts...

Unfortunately, on our way from Niagara to Lockport, NY to see the Erie Canal NHP, UPLNDR's transmission decided the top two gears, 3rd and 4th, had had enough of the Continental Divide and the other abuses I'd put the urban assault vehicle through pretending it was actually a Willys jeep.  We coasted into Lockport, had a terrible experience with the local AAMCO shop, checked into a motel and consulted the Yellow Pages.  Three minutes on the phone with the guys at Redline Automotive and knew they were the answer - they had the rebuilt from Buffalo ordered before we limped into their parking lot!  You can just tell good people from the get-go and even though it sucked to have dead days stuck in a rental car in Lockport, we knew the rig was in good hands, so we settled in for our longest stay at any one locale.

Lake Erie

We visited the Niagara Maritime Museum and were once again cursed by lack of time and the season.  The USS Niagara was winterized, but we did get a 2-on-1 tour under the canvas coverings with a Navy vet docent, who was more than happy to spend an hour on board with us, describing the Battle of Lake Erie and the ship.

This naval battle was as crucial as Clark's victory at Ft Sackville in securing the western frontier during the War of 1812 and driving the British from that theater, so it was nice to tie the two together in our history thread.

Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry took his Great Lakes fleet against the British' heavier ships on 10 Sep 1813 knowing he had a favorable wind and the Brits were short on supplies.  His original flagship, the Lawrence, was badly battered by three British ships, but when Perry transferred his flag to the as yet unengaged Niagara, he smashed into the British fleet and sealed their doom, accepting their surrender shortly after.  Removing their fleet from the Great Lakes also opened up their forts in place like Detroit.

The ship on display now is a replica built in 1988 and at 196' is longer than the photo does justice.  It was designed to sit low in the water, so below deck, the ceiling is only 5', so we did a lot of sitting as he described life in the US Navy in the early 19th century!  But the replica is true to original construction, fully operational (though modernized to meet Coast Guard requirements) and will be involved in a reenactment in 2013 with 7 other tall ships.  Definitely worth the visit if you have any curiosity about Perry, tall ships or Lake Erie.



 

The retired Army officer and retired surgeon working on this 1/2"=1' scale model have over 5,000 hours into it, including hand-tying all of the tiny knots.  All of the rigging works.  They love their baby and really don't know what they'll do with their time when she's complete early next year...

The Moore Monument located on Presque Peninsula gave Sophia her first glimpse of the true size of the Great Lakes...

 

 

which includes lighthouses.  For some reason I love lighthouses and will drive a long way to see them... right up there with covered bridges and cupolas on old barns.  Probably some deep-rooted maritime explanation for my fascination.  Or maybe just 'cause they're pretty, functional, and near seafood!

Saw the sign on the way out of Erie, PA and had to stop in and visit.  Third generation dealership ownership.  Nice salesman didn't even try to talk me out of UPLNDR - maybe it was the deer hide hanging from the front spare...

Drill baby drill

Imagine Indians skimming oil off a creek and using it to waterproof hides or treat skin injuries.  You'd probably name it Oil Creek.  That's exactly what someone did.  Then in 1859, they decided to drill a well where the seeps occurred, assuming there must be a pool beneath.  And there was, 69-1/2' down!  Makes an Eagle Ford horizontal seem pretty easy.  It was called the Drake Well and it's just outside Titusville, PA, the first oilfield boom town!

For the geologists in my life...

And, oh yes, it touches every part of our lives...

Flight 93

Back when we owned the local newspaper, the editor and I agreed we'd devote however much space was required to recognize the names of every victim from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  Each Sunday evening for a number of weeks, I would compile the ever-growing list of names, noting military or police or fire service, and where their death occurred.
Typing those thousands of name was never easy and it was a task I truly dreaded, but I felt obligated to let the world, or at least as many folks as read The Countywide, know about these unfortunate victims.  The banner on the page(s) was "We Will Not Forget."
I remember the wide variety of ethnic names and was often struck by the melting pot that is America.  And by the likelihood that the Islamic extremists had no doubt killed many Muslims.  I certainly felt sorrow over time, but I don't think my anger has ever fully subsided.
Have we forgotten?  I know one brave young man that made up his mind to attend West Point after the attacks.  I heard the talking heads that said we deserved it.  I cheered unabashedly when Bin Laden was killed.
We visited the field outside Lambertsville when the Flight 93 Memorial now stands.  It is a somber place.  They have planted groves of trees in groups of 40 across the hillsides.  The National Park Service intends to let the fields grow with natural vegetation and wildflowers, to heal naturally if you will.
The crater was surprisingly small to me, considering an airliner traveling upside-down at 563 mph slammed into it.  Remains of every passenger and crew aboard were recovered and identified, a privilege many victims in the Towers did not receive.  The local coroner requested that the remains be re-interred at the site, so it is now a national cemetery, fitting for the heroics that saved God knows how many lives at the remaining target.

 

 

 One more time, because they certainly deserve it:

Captain, Jason M. Dahl
First officer, Leroy Homer
Flight crew, Lorraine G. Bay, Sandy Waugh Bradshaw, Wanda Anita Green, Ceecee Ross Lyles, Deborah Jacobs Welsh.
Passengers:
Christian Adams
Todd M. Beamer
Alan Anthony Beaven
Mark Bingham
Deora Frances Bodley
Marion R. Britton
Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
William Joseph Cashman
Georgine Rose Corrigan
Patricia Cushing
Joseph Deluca
Patrick Joseph Driscoll
Edward Porter Felt
Jane C. Folger
Colleen L. Fraser
Andrew (Sonny) Garcia
Jeremy Logan Glick
Kristin Osterholm White Gould
Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and unborn child
Donald Freeman Greene
Linda Gronlund
Richard J. Guadagno
Toshiya Kuge
Hilda Marcin
Waleska Martinez
Nicole Carol Miller
Louis J. Nacke II
Donald Arthur Peterson
Jean Hoadley Peterson
Mark David Rothernberg
Christine Ann Snyder
John Talignani
Honor Elizabeth Wainio


 

We haven't been starving...

We've actually been on a pretty good food run the past couple of days...
Starts with Chapz, a biker bar outside St Clairsville, OH.  Lady at our motel said don't let the exterior fool you, the food is good and Tuesday is $9.99 steak night.  Sounds dubious all around, but the people were hardly Hells Angels material (lotsa Ohio St gear though) and the steak was one of the best I've had in a long time, regardless of price.  Also perfect fries and cole slaw "almost as good as Jim's!  Started with a Rolling Rock, then realized they weren't brewed in Latrobe any more, so switched to Yuengling brewed in Pittsburgh.  Really good beer.

Yep Burf!, they butter the toast!

No, we didn't eat the kitty, but Luke greeted us at the motel office and is the first cat I've ever known to reach around your neck and give you a hug, while he purrs and rubs on your ears.  Made us miss our kitties at home.

After a visit to the Ruffed Grouse Society in Coraopolis, PA (told them I was turning in my window sticker which had failed after only 60,000 miles of desert, snow, forests, and rain on UPLNDR), we drove into downtown Pittsburgh to Mallorca, a Spanish restaurant listed on several Basque websites.  Our young waiter was unfamiliar with Basque despite my elaborate description, but luckily for us, Luis (from Spain), the manager of a sister restaurant (Portuguese!) that bakes the bread, came in and told the kitchen what to prepare for us.  We had shrimp and scallop stuffed red peppers, cod with garlic, onions, and peppers and garlic pork chops.  Served with fluffy Spanish rice, kettle-cooked potato chips, and fresh salad.  The sides were served family-style so there were Basque traditions present, even if unintentional...

 We were a little hungry when we shut down last night not far from Slippery Rock, so we crossed the street to My Brothers Place where I ordered the Pittsburgher - seasoned steak, fries, and cole slaw on a herb-crusted sourdough bun.  Thing was huge!  But reeeaaallllyyy good - especially with a Yuengling!

(phone just for size reference, although this thing could probably order it's own take-out!)

Those magnificent men and their flying machines

Dayton, OH is considered the home of aviation and "Wrightfully" so.  While the first sustained flight may have occurred at Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brothers did all of the design and experimentation inside their bicycle shop in Dayton.  They started out as printers, then dabbled in repairing bicycles when that craze began in the late-1800s, ultimately designing and selling their own cycles.
But the allure of flight got hold of them and they tinkered, designed, practiced, tested and built until they had their first glider in 1902.  It didn't perform as they expected and they suspected the flight dynamics calculations they had been relying upon.  So they built their own wind tunnel, did their own measurements, and came up with calculations still in use today.
Add a small engine built by an employee in their bike shop and voila ... the Flyer III ended up with sustained flights up to 59 minutes ... might have been longer, but they didn't top off the 1 gallon fuel tank that day.

A belt-driven wind tunnel ... of course.

The actual Wright Flyer III with about 80% original parts!

Some of the original parts ... the Flyer III weighed 112 lbs without fuel or pilot.  The cotton canvas material was sewn on a small household machine, similar to some in Daphne's collection.

When they solved wing warping - having the wings 'warp' when banking into a turn, they solved flight.  While they used handles to control the elevators and rudder, the pilot lay on a saddle which slid from side-to-side, feathering the wing ends to accommodate the turns.
Cool stuff - touching history again.