Mr Pickles Goes to Rochester

 Harrisonburg, VA hosts the James Madison University (for those amongst my many foreign followers, James Madison was the 4th President of the USA, big wig big brain and all that. Follow the link for more info.), but is also at the heart of a wonderful collection of minor roads, many gravel, that completely excited my drivers who are also avid cyclists. I declined to join them on their two wheel death traps and bid them adieu while resting at ease in the van for the day. It turns out they had quite a good time but, as so often happens when they get excited, few photos were taken.  Get ready to be excited - here is a ... gravel road! "Oooh! Aaah!" I hear you exclaim. "How exciting." Quite.  Jane on ... a gravel road! Shocking.  Jane with an Indian Meal ( Taj of India , center of Harrisonburg, highly recommended) and the inevitable beer.  That was it - nearly 40 miles ridden and 2000 ft climbed and we get this merest snippet of the experience. Oh - the only other ...

 Today was a day of driving, slowly, through acres and acres of trees along the backbone of the Shenandoah National Park, VA . As a vegetable I found this an extremely fascinating experience. There were so many beautiful trees and plants. But what did my Drivers think of it all? "Very nice, but a bit dull" - ye gods! Its at times like this I have to remember the kind of narrow thinking their species have, despite their other useful skills. It's astonishing to me how few trees or plants they can name. So, from all those hours of driving, we have the following small collection of photos: A small corner of the park (it is 105 miles long, and 10 or so miles wide). The big insight from my Drivers? "Aren't there a lot of trees?!" d'uh! The obligatory self-serving selfie from the summit of Hawksbill Mountain , the highest point in the entire park: On their way back to the van were very excited to get close to this oversize tick-breeding rabbit wannabe. Don'...

A hot, hot night in the Westchester Walmart saw a late start (again!), followed by a quick drive to Frederick, to meet up with Colin, Toby's old boss. And then on to the main event of the day: Harper's Ferry - One of the two sites of the first American Armory and Arsenal. Harper's Ferry is a delightful historic town; it sits on a peninsula where the Shenandoah flowing North meets the Potomac, which continues East. In the early days of the American expansion this river confluence and strategic position was important as a river crossing point and as a center of industry (machines were entirely driven by belts connected to vast waterwheels using the river's power to drive them).  My drivers (bless their little cotton socks - they're such eager outdoor wannabes!) decided to walk down to the village and follow the Appalachian trail. Here's the view looking East, with the Potomac in the distance, just where the Shenandoah joins: The way into the village passes by ...

 A late start (how the old habits are easily recovered!) saw us on the road to Gettysburg, PA - the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center , to be precise (and Mr Pickles is a stickler for precision, let me tell you. "Exactitude in small matters is the soul of discipline" was drummed into me when still a seedling, and I haven't forgotten it!). I of course got to sit with President Lincoln (well, his statue). I think I show up rather well, though I say it myself: I found the battlefields (there are many, at Gettysburg) rather sad. Green fields and beautiful forests - all shot to pieces and trampled into a muddy mess. 60,000 men died in 3 days of fighting - a fearful loss.   Toby (the Idiot Male, as I like to think of him), decided it'd be fun to give me the chance to make like a cartridge and tried ramming me down a cannon. This was just taking things too far - after this insulting incident I took myself back to the van where I hid, quaking, until ...

My drivers were reluctant, but I insisted. "Mr Pickles requires that we head for home!" I commanded in my Most Imperious Tones. And, there we were, waving goodbye to Rochester. It was fun, but time to get moving.  First stop is Watkins Glen State Park , at the southern tip of  Seneca Lake, the westernmost of the two larger Finger lakes. This park is AMAZING. We started as a big thunderstorm ripped through, and ended in warm sunshine. Take a look: This is a gem, and well worth the $0 it costs to get in! Indeed, I'd even suggest my drivers pay for it should the need arise! Afterwards we drove to Lock Haven, for a lovely view over the river back into this little town. A very restful quiet spot for the night. I must say (and don't let my drivers every hear it), but those two are starting to get the hang of this van lark - they don't argue too much, they find nice places to stay, and they eat reasonably well for their species! 

What a lovely time at Rochester. It was very relaxing for me. I enjoyed the warm, humid atmosphere (very good for my fronds) and the hospitality shown by Cameron and Kylie. I ensured that my drivers did their bit working in the yard and getting jobs done. Here're some highlights from this relaxing week. Here's the gang, walking the dog in the leafy green neighborhood: And to show you just how green Rochester can be at this time of year, here's a picture looking north toward the downtown from Cobb's Hill Park And those who think Rochester has no culture should take a look at some gorgeous public art, of which is but a small piece, showing the making of man. Lovely stuff! We found the nightlife very much to our tastes. Excellent Indian take outs, and the East Coast seating of the End of Summer Meal (2021) at La Roux: We were very sad to say goodbye, but a week was enough to make us very happy and confident that we've got a great place to stay over in the East!

 My drivers are doorknobs - that's all I can say. I was tucked up in my nice dry little spot, as per usual, and thank goodness I was because it poured with rain last night and those two dummies didn't close all the windows. The sheets got wet, the floor got wet, and still they snored on (of course they woke in the morning and whined about not sleeping, but if that was the case then why didn't they notice the water pouring in). Ugh. I give up. These people. Its a good thing we'll be a Rochester today finally! Despite the storms last night the dawn was lovely, as you can see (well, if you can get round that big nose ...) After a relatively lively start we got on the road and finally Rochester hove into view; we arrived in the early afternoon and what a relief it was to be here. Such a cute house, although I'm a very concerned about their loud and dangerous dog (Sky). Normally carnivores leave me alone, being a vegetable, but Sky does enjoy ripping soft objects apart, ...

We ran out of data on our cellular plan a few days ago (hence the delay in getting this blog out!), so we took the opportunity to stop at Kroger's in Toledo where we could  shop (great grocery shop!) get a coffee (in-store Starbucks) and do our wi-fi stuff (great wi-fi!). Afterwards Jane had some retail therapy at the local Goodwill! With our administrivia completed we decided we much preferred time at the beach rather than the limited culture of Toledo, so off we set to Barcelona Harbor via Huron Pier & Lighthouse .    Huron Pier was rather pretty - very, very shallow little bay (we tried swimming, but about 1/4 mile out we were still only up to our knees!). So we walked out to the lighthouse, got a little exercise in, and moved on ...     We had a lovely drive to Barcelona, arriving in the early evening in time for a beer at the local hostelry. (We love ioverlander - we'd never have found this place without it, and it was a great place to park up f...

I finally gave my drivers the day off. They were driving me nuts. These non-vegetable life forms seem to be particularly prone to suffering and telling we vegetables all about it. I was somewhat tired with their whining about the heat and the mosquitos. It was a blessed relief to have them set off on their bicycles for much of the day. They enjoyed the ride apparently, although it was very flat (20 miles, 347 ft!). They did see a wonderful Praying Mantis, which they’d only ever seen in the Zoo before: Of course they couldn't go far afield without checking out the local art exhibit, where they were so excited to find a three legged table. Good thing the van isn't too big, else I expect they'd waste their hard-earned cash on this extravagance, just for the joke of it: One amazing thing did happen today - Toby and I went shopping in a really strange old school house, where he bought a shirt. Toby volunteering to go shopping is just about a first, so we had to record it: ...

Having decided not to get shot in Chicago while waiting for the museum to remain shut we high-tailed it to Indiana Dunes State Park where there was going to be a snakes exhibition, as well as access to a lovely beach. It’s a little known fact but I (Mr Pickles) am an avid Ophiophilist; after all, snakes are carnivores, so they don’t threaten me, and there is a certain resemblance to a snake and my ‘fronds’, as I lovingly calls my green appendages. So off to the Natural History House we went, for an entertaining hour learning about the local snakes. Afterward we went to the beach - it was pouring with rain, but the storm moved off to leave a glorious day, as you can see in the photo below: Of course nothing is simple with my drivers. For some Godforsaken reason they took it in their heads to climb this hill not once, but FIVE times “for the exercise” they said, but I think they were just showing off:   I finally persuaded Toby to enjoy some time in the sun with me - his grim ...

We woke to a glorious sunrise,   but the day was soon shaping up to be another hot and sultry one, so we decided we’d spend the day driving beyond our scheduled stop and try to get close to Chicago, with the intention of having more time in the city.  We drove through Iowa - its windy, with big wind farms. You can see the windmills in the distance:   And you can start to see how big these are when you see a single blade, like here:   So it was no surprise when we stopped for lunch and the wind blew us all to pieces:  Toby was all for checking out but I led the charge and got his fat butt doing some exercise on the bench before we got blown out of there again:   After many long hours of driving we finally crossed the Mississippi and pulled into Walmart in Peru, Illinois - tired, and having survived a big thunder and lightning storm. We hot footed it into Walmart where we heard about the recent murders in Chicago and the dramatic increas...

After a sleepless night it was a late start, and we simply drove down highway 80 to Lincoln, Nebraska. 80 is straight as an arrow, with hardly a bend, for 100s of miles. Fortunately we had a story to listen to to keep us away. Lunch was a great salad (thanks Jane!) Near a little lake.     We also had a a shower! Obviously we don’t have photos - you’ll have to trust me on that one! In Lincoln we took in the Sunken Gardens and the Rose Garden - the former were beautiful, but we were a bit late in the season for the latter. But it was hot - around 110F (43.3C) - even my beautiful fronds were wilting in this heat:   So we hightailed it out of there to Yankee Hill - a small lake south of Lincoln, where it was somewhat cooler (96F) and very quiet. Here’s me helping with the evening’s cooking:    A peaceful night for all, with the van fully open and the wind blowing through. A good night’s sleep at last!