Beavertail State Park and Lighthouse - Jamestown, Rhode Island

September 22, 2017

Beavertail State Park and Lighthouse - Jamestown, Rhode Island

Once in a while you get lucky.  Today we decided to take a drive to Beavertail State Park on the recommendation of a friend. The sea, what a beautiful and unforgiving place. How it makes man seem so insignificant and so adventurous at the same time.

What follows is a photographic journey of the beautiful place called Beavertail State Park and Lighthouse.  Walking the shores as we gaze into the open Atlantic feeling the the joy and unrelenting power of the ocean. 

Enjoy!  Remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click Here to Comment

Jamestown, R.I. as we pass on our way to the park

“My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea,

and the heart of the great ocean

sends a thrilling pulse through me.” 

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Look at that sea, girls--all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. 

We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and 

ropes of diamonds.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“I pass with relief from the tossing sea of Cause and Theory to the firm ground 

of Result and Fact.” ― Winston S. Churchill, The Story of the Malakand Field Force

“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” ― William James

“hark, now hear the sailors cry, smell the sea, and feel the sky 

let your soul and spirit fly, into the mystic...” ― Van Morrison

“The sea, the snotgreen sea, the scrotumtightening sea.” 

― James Joyce, Ulysses

“Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.” 
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too”  - Vincent van Gough, The letters of Vincent van Gough

“It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.” 

― Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

“To reach a port we must set sail –

Sail, not tie at anchor

Sail, not drift.” 

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

“There was a magic about the sea. People were drawn to it. People wanted to love by it, swim in it, play in it, look at it. It was a living thing that as as unpredictable as a great stage actor: it could be calm and welcoming, opening its arms to embrace it's audience one moment, but then could explode with its stormy tempers, flinging people around, wanting them out, attacking coastlines, breaking down islands. It had a playful side too, as it enjoyed the crowd, tossed the children about, knocked lilos over, tipped over windsurfers, occasionally gave sailors helping hands; all done with a secret little chuckle” 

― Cecelia Ahern, The Gift

“He: "Whale you be my valentine?" She: "Dolphinitely.” ― Adam Young

“Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.” 

― Hermann Broch

“Darwin may have been quite correct in his theory that man descended from the apes of the forest, but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, as resplendent as Aphrodite on her scalloped chariot.” 

― Margot Datz, A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

"Martha is my Mermaid"

My mermaid who is so at ease with the ocean, her mood lightens as she makes the motion, see there, that's ocean. A single gaze of the blue green water reliably brings a small smile to her lovely face and without fail she lets out a relieved and joyous sigh that accompanies any seascape smile. The sea makes her happy so surely she must be a Mermaid. With the water lapping at her toes sheer joy returns to her face and her gentle soul.  As she loosens her sandals and puts her feet in the sand a childlike strut appears in her gate and I know my Mermaid has returned to her estate.

Martha the love of my life

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.

[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, September 14 1962]” 

― John F. Kennedy

“Ocean separates lands, not souls..”  ― Munia Khan

“Time is more complex near the sea than in any other place, for in addition to the circling of the sun and the turning of the seasons, the waves beat out the passage of time on the rocks and the tides rise and fall as a great clepsydra.” ― John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat

“and I shall watch the ferry boats, and they'll get high, on a bluer ocean against tomorrow's sky. and i will never grow so old again, and i will walk and talk, in gardens all wet with rain...” ― Van Morrison

“I spent uncounted hours sitting at the bow looking at the water and the sky, studying each wave, different from the last, seeing how it caught the light, the air, the wind; watching patterns, the sweep of it all, and letting it take me.  The sea.” ― Gary Paulsen, Caught by the Sea

“I was happy anywhere I could see the ocean.” ― Ai Yazawa, Nana, Vol. 18

'Cause I want to be there,I want to go back down and lie beside the sea there.

With a tin cup for a chalice. Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine. Jimmy Buffett - Tin Cup Chalice

The quotes used in this post were taken from: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/sea

Steamtown National Historic Site - Scranton, Pennsylvania

Steamtown National Historic Site - Scranton, Pennsylvania 

September 4, 2017

Click on any image to enlarge them  Please enter your comments at the bottom of this page

I think every kid from my era (the late 40's) knew something about steam trains. We were taught that steam trains transported goods, supplies, war materials and soldiers during World War II. We saw westerns that always seemed to have a steam train in them. Every boy I knew when I was nine or ten had a Lionel Train and track. We loved them, we wanted to be engineers.   But when I was nine, steam trains were steadily being replaced with diesel electric locomotives and little by little the opulent train stations in large cities fell silent going the way of horse and buggy before trains. It is, unfortunately. an era gone by.

But there is one place you can go to see how the steam locomotives and the train cars of past were maintained and refurbished. The place is "Steamtown National Historic Site" in Scranton, PA.

Martha and I visited and found the place fascinating. Steamtown had more rail lines coming into and out of it than most vital freight and passenger hubs in the entire United States. The yard itself has been in continuous commercial operation since 1851 and includes a number of steam era buildings including the round house, sand tower as well as other buildings. The large collection includes rolling stock (restored) and a reasonably intact working rail yard.

Among some of the artifacts and working buildings is the roundhouse. The remaining portion of the roundhouse was built between 1907 and 1937. The turntable itself is ninety feet long and is used to turn engines toward the roundhouse. It's construction is original to the plans used in the 1900's. The roundhouse has been rehabilitated and is used to store, maintain, and display engines from the Steamtown collection. It also has an elevated walkway so that visitors can view work in progress being done to restore locomotives and other train cars.

  

During the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad was a major carrier of anthracite, the hard cleaner burning coal which was found in abundance in northeastern Pennsylvania.  The popularity of anthracite spurred the growth and expansion of the DL&W but also the four other main railroads that ran through Scranton, the Central of New Jersey, the Delaware & Hudson, the Erie, and the New York, Ontario and Western railways. The Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad, and an electric short line began operating in the area.  

The electric line began operations in 1903 and served local passenger and freight needs. Coal and railroads created a huge industrial complex in the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys. This entire complex of railways is largely in place due to one man William H. Truesdale who was the President of the DL&W from 1899 to 1925,  Many of the structures and infrastructure in the Steamtown complex are a result of the legacies of the Truesdale administration. During this time the railroads and Scranton prospered.

Eventually with the introduction of diesel electric locomotives the rail yard and Scranton began to fall on harder times. Today the rail yard has closed but for the on going restoration of historic steam engines and Scranton has had to re-invent itself.

The following are some of the photos Martha and I took while visiting Steamtown.

Yours truly seeing how it felt to be in command of such awesome power

Outside the round house at the turntable

Many displays depicting the way the rail yard and employees looked and how they worked

The museum featured life like period statues

    What a great bonus in pay eh?                                         

  

Yard switch room

Harpooning mail

Who knew they had two parts?

Yard freight mover (below)

Restoration nearly complete (below)

Restored Pullman Car 

Dining Car

This woman wasn't very friendly

He's been waiting a while to hop a train

I hope you've enjoyed our trip down memory lane. We welcome your comments please use the comment box and let us know how we're doing.  Remember, to see a photo clearer please click on it for the entire slide show of photos shown on this blog entry.

Things I've Learned During our First Three Months Fulltiming - Pro's and Con's

You've heard the adage, "Time flies when you are having fun." The nice thing about full time living in an RV is that you are truly free to have fun. The only restriction we have is financial.

Pro's

1. The freedom to roam. We can stay in a place as long as we like or, move every day.
2. If your neighbors suck you can move your RV to another site or another state.
3. You have the flexibility to make a reservation for an RV site based on location and activities.
4. Once in awhile you can connect with people that are in the campground. This provides a sense of "community" for me.
5. Monday through Thursdays in a campground is very peaceful.
6. Sightseeing plans can be made to accommodate your personal schedules. We go to bed late and sleep late. Early for us is 8:00 am so, we plan our activities in the afternoons and evening.
7. I can take my time with RV modifications and non-critical repairs because the only people we need to impress is ourselves.
8. If you have things to tick off your bucket list you can stay in an area for as long as it takes to see and experience the things you want to do.
9. Our house travels well. We can pull over to make lunch or use the bathroom and we have a stocked refrigerator and kitchen cabinets.
10. The beauty of nature is overwhelming sometimes.
11. You can go see the National Parks during the off season when there are fewer people.
12. Local festivals and activities can be a lot of fun.
13. Making new friends.
14. I'm learning to relax more.
15. We don't have to pack a bag to travel

Con's

1. Staying in one place as long as you like is a relative term. When you are camping at a State or National park you are normally restricted to fourteen days in any one RV site.
2. Doing all the things you want to do costs more money than my retirement can provide.
3. Getting to know people in the campground can be a mixed bag. Some people you meet are like minded and others you meet you want to keep at a distance.
4. Weekends at campgrounds (especially State and National; Parks) are busy and filled with noise.
5. Sometimes rainy days can make you feel trapped. Our tiny house is just under four hundred and fifty square feet. Put two people and a dog in that space and you tend to trip on one another a bit.
6. Stuff breaks and I need to fix those things.
7. Things that break require parts that I never have on hand. There is little commonality in RV systems requiring that I have lots of little parts on hand. (IE: nuts, bolts, screws, caulking, etc.
8. Our house requires lubrication, filters and oil changes.
9. Seeing the beauty of nature along with throngs of people. Places like our national parks are always crowded with people except during the off season.
10. Missing family and friends.
11. Throngs of people packed into a campground.
12. Dated State and National campground amenities due to lack of infrastructure and budget short falls.
13. Having to use public shower and toilet facilities when boondocking (aka: camping without electric, water and or sewer hook ups).
14. Friday through Sunday in a campground is like a zoo. People come to let their hair down and enjoy life but once in a while they are too much into the "enjoy life" part.
15. Learning to relax is hard.
16. Having too much stuff with us. 

Videos from Carter Caves State Park and surrounding areas in Kentucky

August 31, 2017

Carter Caves State Park Resort and the surrounding countryside near Olive Hill, Kentucky

This os a compilation of barn photos that Martha took while we were meandering through the countryside around Carter Caves State Park. The video is set to the Kentucky Waltz. 

Enjoy!

Barn Storming in Kentucky from Charles on Vimeo.

The second video will give you a feel for being a passenger in our Motorhome and how close Chuck has to drive to the white line to keep from crossing the yellow line. Martha has said more than once that it's a bit unnerving to sit in the passenger's seat and be comfortable. Now that I have seen the videos I can safely saw "I get it."  

This video is set appropriately to "She'll be Coming Round The Mountain."

Ride in the passenger seat of a Class A Motor Coach from Charles on Vimeo.