Where Are We, Where Have We Been????

October 8 – 13

 

Indianapolis, Indiana State Capitol (reflection)

 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Spectacular tile work in Capitol

 

Grand staircase - Harrisburg, PA

 

 

Patsy and Dave - CS Harrisburg, PA

Cool folks

 

The Joy of Chocolate

 

Albany, NY Capitol

Looks more like a European castle

 

Up close and personal

a real covered bridge - yeah!!!!!!!

It is sort of surreal to think that we are so far "back east"

  

We have been traveling fast and furious this week and hit 3 state capitol buildings. There were days we weren't sure of the day of the week, date, or what we had just seen. We are now in our condo in Lincoln, New Hampshire for one solid week and today is just for sitting around, doing wash, cooking meals and relaxing.

The capitols we've seen this week are:

Indianapolis, Indiana

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Albany, New York

Each was different and real masterpieces of architecture. The NY capitol when constructed cost an amazing $25M. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was one of the most beautiful inside and a very different dome. We enjoyed our visits to all the buildings.

In Harrisburg, PA we couch surfed for one night with Patsy and Dave. She's a DJ with a local radio station and has been doing that for over 30 years. Dave has created an internet radio station, writes radio spots, and many other creative things -- so they were interesting people who made us feel right at home. We went out for pizza at a local place that has been in business since 1948. Always nice to go some where that is older than I am. In the morning Dave cooked us a nice breakfast and then Patsy took us over to Hersey, PA to see all the chocolate stuff. They don't let you tour the plant anymore, but do have a free ride to go through that explains the many processes to make yummy choc. There is even an amusement park (we did not do that) and lots of stuff (hats, shirts, etc.) to buy. They even had candy you can't find in stores. We DID NOT buy even one piece of candy for us. Amazing.

After Hershey, we drove to Scranton, PA. We learned about a National Historic Site there called “Steam Town”, so we went to visit this museum. We spent several hours going through all the interesting displays on the history of the steam trains and their many contributions to America. This was an original steam train depot, repair shop, yard – so they even had a huge turn around there. Well preserved and two interesting cars we went into – one a special car, the fancy one used by the president of the company and other dignitaries when they traveled. The other was a mail car that showed how they sorted the mail inside the car with all the slots, and also the arm that would drop off the mail as the train went by.

Last stop was Bennington, Vermont. We stopped in at Bennington Pottery – beautiful pottery – glad I don't have anywhere to put it so I could resist. Saw something I'd never seen before - “drum art” which is tin work done in Haiti that is made out of steel drums and it is quite a process. It is wonderful and I fell in love with that. It is just so cool. We had a nice time going to the Park-McCullough House, built in 1865. There was an Oktoberfest so we enjoyed a bratwurst and looking at the booths, sampling, touring the house and listening the the Polka Band. Nice fall festival. On our way out of town we got to go over two covered bridges – something we've seen on calendars, TV and we did it, neat!!!!

So many pumpkins, corn stalks, scarecrows, colored corn, gourds, squash – very Fall here. Yards are decorated to the max and it is fun to see. Fall is my favorite time of year so I am enjoying each thing I see.

Several hours driving through Vermont and then in to New Hampshire. Beautiful hills, and pretty colors. Cooling off now, rained a bit last night. Well, off to do about 5 loads of wash and get ready for our driving around this week.