Day 53. Sept 28, 2013

Camping outside of DC.  Today is National Park Volunteer Day, so we helped with a project here.  We shoveled mulch into playground areas.  Got a good work-out.  Biked to and from...about 5 miles up and down steep hills.

We took the metro to downtown.  About a hour trip, as we are on the far end...in MD.  Got together with several of my ASHHRA and Mayo colleagues.  Great seeing everyone again.  We went to some vendor-sponsored events, then took metro back.  We were a little nervous about safety, but were careful to not carry any valuables with us.

Day 52. Sept. 27, 2013....in Washington, DC

We left Amish country, driving past farmers harvesting their corn and hay  with horses.  Stopped at this  clinic to turn around.  See photo with horse "parking lot" .  Even saw a bank with a horse and buggy in the drive-through!

Then to Maryland.  We are staying in a campsite between DC and Baltimore, so that I can present at the ASHHRA  national conference.  This campsite is on the metro line, so will be an easy commute. It is a national park, so George can use Senior Pass.  $8,00 per night...hard to believe we are in the metro area at that price.  Also, hard to believe that there are dozens of deer peacefully munching away in the picnic area, just off the busy highway.  

We are eating fajitas tonight....grilling peppers, onions, and shrimp in the pie iron, and then serving with tortillas and cheese, with leftover beans and rice on the side.  Another birthday gift was a set f brackets to hold down a tablecloth.  So, tonight we are dressing things up!

Day 51. sept 26, 2013....more time in Amish country

We stayed a second night in the same campsite.  Always nice to not have to take down/put up every day.  We took a hike and foraged for campfire wood on a nature trail.  Then we found a stream where people were filling water jugs with spring water, so we did, too.  

We went into Lancaster to their brewery and filled our growler.  

Went shopping in some Amish stores and bought cheese and meats.  Next to the shops, they have special   parking slots for the horse and buggies...see photo with sign saying "reserved for horse and buggies"

 At the campsite, we talked to a couple who gave us some boiled crabs they had brought.  We had that as an appetizer, then cooked the Amish sausage with some onions in my new pie iron.  Yum

  

Day 50. Sept 25, 2013. In Amish country!

Hard to believe that we have been on the road for 50 days!  Left Scranton, stopping to shop on our way out of town.  George got me a birthday present..see photo.  They are called pie irons.  You can make all kinds of food in them, and stick in the fire to cook.  Meats, sandwiches, eggs, etc...even pies!

We stopped in a pub where they brew their own beer, and make breads and  artisan cheeses.  yum.

Drove on back roads.  This is really rich farm country.  Our destination was near Lancaster, PA, Amish farmlands.  The Amish have interesting names for their towns....Bird in the Hand, Blue Balls, and Intercourse.  Of course, George wanted to stay in Intercourse.  We drove into town, passing about 50 Amish buggies, as we headed for a campsite advertised as being next to Amish farms.  They didn't have any vacancies, about which we were surprised, but actually it was ok as the campsite  was pretty smelly with the adjoining farm's manure, and the roads were full of the Amish horses' "road apples"!

Drove back into town. It looked like the Amish school was having a fall festival.  The buggies were streaming into town, and the Amish town dwellers were walking to the school.  About 1000 kids and adults

were there. The "English" are definitely the minority.  

By the time we found another campsite, it was late and getting dark.  Supper was thankfully easy to prepare.  I just warmed up the dish I had made in the hotel....beans and rice with leftover porkloin, seasoned with cumin, cayenne and chipotle, plus the leftover spinach/arugula salad.  Beautiful fall evening.  We fell asleep listening to the clippity-clop of the horses' hoofs of the buggies returning to their homes.  

Day 49. Sept. 24, 2013. Happy Birthday to me!

We took a drive into nearby Hyde Park to visit FDR's estate and library.  Interesting tour.  Passed by the Culinary Institute of America.  I was surprised at its huge campus.  

Drove to Newburgh, NY where a pub had been recommended.  Like many other upstate NY towns, it is full of old Victorian houses that are now derelict.  Kind of sad.  

Hit the road for the day.  Need to head southwest so we can circle into DC.  Ended in Scranton, PA, as that is where I found a TowneSuites Hotel.  That was my birthday gift to myself....staying in what seems to be the lap of luxury.  We stayed in this same hotel chain in Rochester after our house sold, so earned Marriott reward points that we used to stay free.  I bought some food and cooked up a storm.  Also, took advantage of their dishwasher to double-clean our dishes.  

For dinner, I pan-fried pork loin with onions and garlic.  Served with rice and a spinach/arugula salad.  Nice, peaceful (and clean) evening!

Day 48. Sept 23, 2013.....Fall colors!

Since we have electricity at this site, I made poached eggs in the microwave.  Added a bit of feta...quite nice.  Boiled up more eggs to have hard-boiled eggs on hand.  

George took the car into town to get an oil change.  I stayed at the campsite and puttered around.  Did dishes.  It is about my least favorite thing to do while camping, as typically the water is ice cold.  I usually put the dinner dishes in a bucket of soapy water at night, to wait until the next AM to attack.  

We drove through Vermont.  The trees are starting to turn.  So beautiful.  We continue to drive back roads so see quaint towns with their autumn decorations.  We stopped in a brewpub in Bennington.  Shared a great braut.  Drove on through a slice of Massachusetts.  We passed through the Berkshires....quite luxurious-looking spas, country clubs, mansions.  Looked at Tanglewood where the Boston Symphony performs each summer.  (Garrison Keillor does a show there each year, too)

On though upstate New York.  Drove through the Hudson Valley and the foothills of the Catskills.  Staying near Poughkeepsie (home of Vassar College).  

Went to a nearby brewery.  Usually they close on Mondays but luckily were open to unkeg a specialty beer.  Then back to the campsite for dinner.  We grilled some chicken thighs, and I baked some potatoes, onions, green pepper, and garlic in aluminum foil packets.  I had picked some basil at the brewpub (growing in big pots at their entrance), and added that.  Yum

Day 47. sept 22, 2013

Drove to nearby Orchard beach, ME.  It really reminded us of southern beach towns like Myrtle Beach or Daytona Beach.  Condos, ocean-front motels, amusement park, junk food.  All off Highway 1.  

Picked up some marinated calamari for dinner at a seafood shop.  Lunch in a brewpub in an old mill.  Drove through New Hampshire and now in Brattleboro, Vermont close to where our daughter went to college.

We have been lucky by not having any car problems.  The only issue has been with the bike rack on the back of the camper.  First, one of the bikes poked a hole in the car's spare tire.  Then, a bike knocked against the spare tire and broke the metal that attaches the spare tire.  Now, we just found that the bike rammed into the back of the camper, probably at a sudden stop, and gouged a small hole in the camper.  Duct tape for now.  

We are heading toward Washington, DC, where I will be presenting with my Mayo colleagues next week.  We are trying to get there by avoiding the congested NE USA, by going west, then circling around.