Lancaster and Philadelphia

I am now back in Maine after a very relaxing tour around New York State and Pennsylvania. Lancaster County is yet another beautiful county. Although I was a little early for the main show of colour, I did find a few trees. I stayed at the EJ Bowman House B & B. I definitely recommend this one too. It is a old house which has been beautifully decorated and the breakfasts are not for slimmers. At least the ones I had, as there was an option of a lighter breakfast. www.ejbowmanhouse.com Alice and Murphy were very welcoming with lots of suggestions of what to see and do. I had some great walks and saw lots of birds although sadly not the migrating hawks which were in the region! Lititz was my favorite village and I learnt a lot about the Moravians which were a German community which settled here around the same time as the Amish settled. I saw lots of the buggies being driven by Amish and children playing in the fields. I did stop briefly in Intercourse but it was a little (an understatement) touristy for me. You can also have dinner with an Amish family but I ran out of time. Definitely a place to go back to.

I drove to Philadelphia and stayed a couple of nights because it was recommended to me. However, there was not much to see that I hadn't seen in other cities. Obviously for Americans it is important but I did not fancy the line for the Independance Hall tour or to see Liberty Bell. Next time, I would stay in Lancaster and spend more time in Valley Forge which I stopped at briefly on Murphy's suggestion. George Washington had his headquarters here for 6 months in the revolutionary war and there are lots of walks to take here. The white tailed deer and groundhogs seemed not to mind the humans. The one posing here did dash off once I had finished taking his photo. Lancaster is also a good base to visit Gettysburg if you want to see more battlefields. Anyway, back to Philadelphia. The best museum was the National Liberty Museum which had some beautiful Chihuly glass sculptures. I loved the jellybean children - all jellybeans look different outside but they are all the same inside. Definitely worth a visit, even though I detected a slight anti firearm message (but I won't go into that debate here). Photos of my drive to Philadelphia and the city are above and Lancaster - Pinnacle outlook and Middle Creek are below.

I have resisted buying dragons on my trip but could not resist Sharon (from Sharon Springs, NY state) and Philly (from Philadelphia. Sharon is the larger red one. Red you have already met. He has been with me all the way being a gift from my friend Judith. The bone Maori carving, I bought in Christchurch, NZ.

Next stop Montreal then I am back in South America for a couple of weeks. Will update the blog with photos of Galapagos around end of November.

The Finger Lakes Region, New York State

I can recommend this region to stay. You really need at least a month to take in everything. In the three days, I managed three beautiful walks in Taughannock State Park, Sapsucker woods (a delight for birdwatchers) and the Cayuga Nature Centre where I saw the deer. I have never had deer stamp their hooves and 'bark' at me before. Of course to the residents trying to protect their plants and veg they are a pest but it was lovely watching them try and hide from me behind the trees. I managed to visit a couple of wineries but these are so numerous around the Cayuga and Seneca Lakes that you would need to take more time for tastings. You can even take a limo around. I stayed in the Gothic Eves in Trumansburg. (www.gothiceves.com) Worth staying here if only for the breakfasts - all of which were excellent but the French Toast was out of this world. Very comforable and I am coming back. I dined at Simply Red which unfortunately has been bought out from under the owner and new chefs are opening another restaurant. The food here was so varied and tasty that I had dinner here three times. Hopefully they will open up somewhere else - check Rose's site above for any details as Simply Red can be found on that. The photos are of the walks I did. The Taughannock waterfall is the tallest in the eastern USA and higher than Niagra. I thought I would be done with waterfalls after New Zealand but they still manage to amaze me. On the walks in the Taughannock State Park you can really see the power of the water and how it has fashioned the gorge.

I missed the peak of the colours by a week and have come down south to see more. However, I think I am a week too early now. I have booked into The EJ Bowman House in Lancaster for 3 nights to tour around the Amish country and see Philadelphia before heading back to York, Maine.

Photos for the family - Kyle and Lynn's RV

Just a few photos of Kyle and Lynn's new vehicle. A photo of Don's new toy. A picture of the Wittetts outside Karin and Neil's house and a few of a corn maize outing. The last photo is of O'Mailie the lab and Klondyke the Swiss Bernese Mountain dog taking a bath.

Manassas to York in Maine for a celebration of life

I had intended to do a leisurely tour of Pennsylvania and end up in York at the end of October. Hovever, I found that my aunt and cousins were gathering to scatter Alistair's ashes in the Mousam river on Parsons beach so I drove straight up there for the Columbus Day weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day. Photos from the bottom - The gathering and the memorial stone which Kyle placed in the river. It will move but Alistair moved about when he fished here - it was his favourite place. We drank champagne to his memory and scattered flowers (the last picture is the flower Lynn threw in. It seemed to know we would want a picture of the occasion so stayed around for a bit) Alanna did some fishing - like grandfather like granddaughter. Neil was fishing too but he seems to have been left out of the photos. The rest are there though, Karin and Alanna, me and Debi, Kyle and Lynn and then Barbara, Alanna and Don. I had to take the photo of the beach bathed in sunlight. There was a wedding party there on the beach taking photos too. Alistair would have love that day.

I am now doing my tour but have started in New York State and am staying in a comfortable B & B in Trumansberg in the Finger Lakes region. Gothic Eves is the name of the B & B but more later.

Manassas and Washington DC

I had a lovely time with my friend Alison in Manassas. She and I went to school together and have known each other since we were about 12. Of course we are only in our 20s now (in our minds!!!). It was good to be back in a cat household again. The photos from the bottom - 1) George and Max 2) Jake and Max (the cats are females though) 3) Back of a famous house 4) Front of a famous house 5) Alison and her husband Dave 6) Coyote seen on our walk on the Manassas battleground. The first one I have seen