Pennsylvania

We left our friends about 7 a.m., because we wanted to get to a museum here with enough time to explore it before it closed at 5.  We had charged the car in our friends’ garage so that we could skip the charger in Hartford on our way.  There was moderately-heavy fog all morning.  Leaving early, being Saturday, driving in the fog, it felt like it was early morning until close to the Connecticut-New York border.

We drove up through the middle of Connecticut (Hartford area to Danbury) to avoid The City.  We crossed the Hudson at Newburgh.  In eastern Connecticut and Duchess County, New York, the hills seemed to be of solid stone.  The hills were more of shale-like rock as we dropped into the Hudson Valley.  Then farther west, crossing into the Delaware Valley, there were hills again of solid rock.  But the hills west of the Hudson were more rounded than they were east of it.  It intrigues me how the land can change hour by hour.

The run to Newburgh was our longest yet between chargers: 188 miles.  We arrived in Newburgh with almost 90 miles left — almost enough to get to the next charger.  Good thing we stopped, though, because on the next leg we went through a long, single-lane construction area never getting above 20 mph.

Still, we got to Steamtown National Historic Site by 2:30, early enough to spend as long as we wanted there.  We just missed the last steam train excursion of the day, but we were able to watch as they put a locomotive away in the roundhouse.  I’ve been fascinated by trains since I was little, and I’d seen a number of roundhouses, but this was the first time I’d seen a roundtable in operation.

I was sorry to leave our friends so early, but I was glad we got here in time to explore Steamtown.  I can’t praise the National Park Service too much.  They do an amazing job of presenting our history and the gifts of nature.

Tonight we are in a hotel in Scranton.  There are three wedding parties also staying in the hotel.  I hope they wear themselves out early.