Day 64 (11.04.07) - Three States in One Day

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 156
Weather: Overcast, Cool (low 50's) but dry
Camped: Wal-Mart in mid- New Jersey somewhere

Narrative:

I've decided to drop the summary, seems like I was just repeating what's in the Sub Heading, so I'll try to make sure that summarizes the day properly going forward.

Actually, I hope (someday) to go back and update all the blog entries, standardize them, edit & improve - probably the same time I get all my pictures at home organized and all the other 'round tuit's caught up... With global warming, are we at risk Hell won't freeze over as quickly as we'd planned?

So I spent the entire 'day off' cleaning up my laptop hard drive and didn't get the blog caught up or some of the other things done that needed doing. Sounds just like being at home to me?

We decided to drive down Hwy 209, a back road, rather then go back to the Interstate - slower, but more pleasant. New York is interesting, they put all sorts of little blue infomative signs all over the place - not always earth shattering however. For the most part, there is also no place to pull over when you see the signs, so I'm not sure how you're supposed to read them! We have learned that some French Huguenots settled in New York in the 1600's and formed the towns of New Paltz and Huguenot. We also learned (from these signs) that a tavern once stood near our campground of last night, that some indians scalped some settlers near Huguonot, that a Mrs. Rohner lived by the road in Port Jervis and holds the world record for being a Den Mother the longest - 43 years. I wonder if they'd put up a blue sign for me having the longest blog entries?

As we continued to drive south on Hwy 209, we saw several signs about a D&H Canal. We pulled over at a park for the D&H Canal and learned this was another canal built around 1825 between the Delaware and Hudson Rivers (D&H)to bring coal to New York City. The canal is mostly gone now, but can be seen in a few places where it has been preserved, like this park.

This was where a wooden aqueduct carried the canal (& barge traffic) over the Neversink River.

We also stopped at the "Erie Turnstile" in Port Jervis (named after the man who got the D&H Canal going). There wasn't a museum or much to see there, just the turnstile:

We passed a few museums on this route, but they were all closed.

Finally, we got to a town called Milford, which was fairly interesting looking in it's own right (old, victorian style buildings) - but I pulled off because I saw a sign saying "Milford Beach". Mom hadn't been able to pick up any sand for several days, it seems a lot of the east coast rivers don't have much access to them, so thought I'd give this one a try. This was a National Park on the Delaware River - mostly mud banks (I got a fair amount on me when I slipped), but Mom found some sand. It was a very nice spot, right under the Milford Bridge - so we stayed there for lunch.

After we crossed this bridge, we were in New Jersey. At first, we enjoyed the state forest along the Delaware River corridor. We also drove through some nice farmland and small communities. However, as we skirted around Newark (we were trying to avoid it, but I guess we got too close - or it just takes up a good portion of the state?) - we got back into what I'd tried to avoid - strip malls for the next 50 miles or so. It was Sunday afternoon and the traffic was bad. Not only that, New Jersey drivers are the rudest we've encountered so far - maybe the people are nice if you get to know them, but on the road they are just strange!

I'm trying to develop a thick enough skin to survive until we get out of this area (and Maryland I suspect), I promise to ignore meaningless honking, drivers that pull out in front of you - then fail to step on the gas, drive around you to the right (on a right turn exit only lane) just because you're an RV, etc.

We stopped at one place, a "Craig House" historic site - I believe it was the site of a Revolutionary War battle, but it seems to have been closed for the season. I did take a picture of a mushroom at least?

Oh well, we found a Wal-mart (most campgrounds are closed around here now) and have pulled over for the night. Will skirt around the southern end of NJ tomorrow and hopefully make it to Philadelphia tomorrow. NJ's nickname is "The Garden State" - I haven't found any yet, but will keep looking.