National Parks Tour - West to East Pt.2

December, 2021

Part two for the west to east trip.

Part one is located here: NPT West to East Pt.1

Nat'l Parks Tour West to East Pt.2 Table Of Contents

• June 27 - Tarboro, NC to Richmond, VA
• June 28 - Richmond, VA to Wilmington, DE
• June 29 - Wilmington, DE to Newburg, NY
• June 30 - Newburg, NY to Keene, NH
• July 1 - Keene, NH to Glen Cove, NY

June 27, 2021 Tarboro, NC to Richmond, VA

I'll readily admit that yesterday's ride was excessive.  There was just a bit too much of those twisty, windy roads over the last couple of days; it adds up.

Today, all we'll deal with is traffic - and possibly a couple of parks that are crowded.

Wright Brothers National Memorial - fascinating place, and man, is it out of the way!  Which is one of the reasons why they picked it as the location to do their research on flying here.

Living quarters, shop replica. Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, NC

 

Markers indicating length of first four powered flights.  First marker is to the left, and the fourth is a small light dot in the center of the photo, near the trees.  Aircraft crashed during flight #5.

There were simply so many places to have chosen in Virginia, but how about the oldest as far as European migration to the New Worlde - Jamestown.  Another interesting place; obvious to see why they chose that specific location for that settlement.

Jamestown Church - Colonial National Historic Park, Jamestown, VA.

Original building foundations in foreground - Colonial National Historic Park, Jamestown, VA

Original building foundations in foreground - Colonial National Historic Park, Jamestown, VA

A word about the weather.  Over the last week or so, it seems we've been dragging along with us near-record breaking heat.  Yeah, it's hot, but we've certainly been in worse conditions with less than ideal gear.  The positive thing has been the breaks for fluids - mostly water, some Gatorade.  It's worse off the bike walking around than it is being on the bike and moving.

328 miles, two states, two stamps.  Yeah, it feels like a disappointing couple of days with a score like that.

June 28, 2021 Richmond, VA to Wilmington, DE

Places here are a lot closer together.  Some people are crappy drivers, and as we head further east, it becomes apparent that to pull this off, it’s going to take patience (breathe deeply….) and a little bit of luck.

Around this point in our travels, my routing that I’d diligently planned for weeks had run out. That’s not to say that I had no idea where I was going, it’s just that I’d been referencing the map on my bike’s GPS for routing detail.  Now, it’s in my phone, and that map can sometimes be a challenge to see.

Early in the process, I’d mentioned that a trip like this is planned with both rider and passenger in mine.  Today, a portion of the ride is for my wife.

Now, in our ride back this way a couple of years ago, I tell the tale of my wife asking me about why everything is named “Lee” in northern Virginia.  Now, as a Yankee girl from New York, she might be excused for not learning more about “the war of Northern Aggression” a.k.a. The Civil War in history class way back when.

Rifle manufacturing circa 1860 - Harper's Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry, WV

Harper's Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry, WV

Now, those lessons are being learned, quickly.  A series of novels she had recently finished reading was based in the area around the Antietam Battlefield.  A stop there, and Harper’s Ferry gave us states that continue to increase the count captured.

Observation deck at Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD

Timeline of major Civil War battles Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD

Fort McHenry, another one of those “this one will take a bit…” and it was worth the time and effort.  Quite a maze to get into - glad Google Maps was on that job. The flag (15 stars, 15 stripes) is the same configuration and size that flew the night of the battle.

Exterior view of Patapsco River and gun placements at Fort McHenry Nat'l Mon. & Hist Shrine, Baltimore, MD

View into Fort McHenry Nat'l Mon. & Hist Shrine, Baltimore, MD

Interior with 15-star American Flag of Fort McHenry Nat'l Mon. & Hist Shrine, Baltimore, MD

333 miles, two states and five stamps.

June 29, 2021 Wilmington, DE to Newburg, NY

“Why stop here?”, she asked while planning back home.

“Philadelphia is close - we’ll hit up the Liberty Bell first thing in the morning, before we press on into eastern Pennsylvania”, I said.

City garage parking for the bike & our gear.  It wasn’t quite as bad as I’d expected; don’t think anything was messed with.

Independence Hall, Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia PA 

Walk a block, then wait in line for the place to open.  The museum attached to where the Liberty Bell is located gave a really good history lesson on what the bell meant to women during the suffrage era as well as POC - liberty.  A couple of hours, and why I really avoided the DC area for this very reason. 

Interior of pavilion on the bell and it's history, including slaves and women's suffrage history, Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia PA

Liberty Bell, Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia PA

Then, it was one of my highlights - Steamtown NHS in Scranton.  The fact that this place still exists, and is run by the NPS, in conjunction with a lot of volunteer effort, was pretty cool.

This is located at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA

This is a portion of a roundhouse now used for maintaining the locomotives at Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA

257 miles, three stamps in one state.  Today was quality, rather than quantity.

June 30, 2021 Newburg, NY to Keene, NH

The calendar in my head is off - I’m a day early for arrival into the midpoint of this ride in Glen Cove.  So, there are a few places that my wife again would like to see.  However, I do inform my wife that this region of the country was still dealing with a fairly strict shutdown due to the pandemic.

So, up the Hudson Valley of New York.  Yeah, everything was still closed, but not closed enough to snag the stamps for the Vanderbilt Mansion, along with the Roosevelt properties.  Perhaps this is why my timeframe is so messed up; you’re not spending the time it takes to walk through a property, or a museum.

Vermont & New Hampshire have each national historic park locations in their states only about 20 miles apart.  What a way to get two states quickly.  The bonus was the covered bridge crossing we needed to make twice - once into New Hampshire, then back into Vermont, taking the highway that parallels the Connecticut River to our lodging in Keene.

This route took us to the bridge crossing over the Connecticut River with the Seabee Bridge - that was a personal photo grab.  There will be more of those tomorrow.

Our second good dose of rain happened while underway as we approached Keene.  It really opened up moments after we got situated in our lodging for the night.  Nope, we’re not going anywhere for dinner tonight.

A shade over 300 miles, three states and six stamps.  Today was quantity. 

July 1, 2021 Keene, NH to Glen Cove, NY (via RI)

Our list of places is only that - a list. No route.  Today includes a short excursion to where I was born and raised as a child.

I’d omitted the commonwealth of Massachusetts in my initial plans, but when I noted just how close we were to a stamp location in Mass., another change was made in the itinerary.  Once this was captured (after having to wait for about an hour to get the stamp - ugh!), we headed into Rhode Island to get the stamp there.

Industrial Canyon, Lowell, MA

Roger Williams Memorial Park, Providence, RI (VC under repair...)

The remaining part of the detour in Rhode Island revolved around places that I was in my youth.  I was born in this state, and have family that still lives in the area.  So, a few places were ridden by, and a handful of photos (that I’m not sharing in the blog) were taken.

Better than eegees?  Split decision here.

We now have a decision to make; time to get moving!   

One of the thoughts we’d had early on was a possible ferry ride from CT into eastern Long Island.  Since I’m NOT really a person that enjoys the open water, and with an impending summer storm in the region fast approaching, I decided I’d take my chances with the weather.  On the highway.

If I was only smart enough to have us both put on the rain gear we had for that last stretch of riding to Glen Cove.  In fact we’d stopped for a quick bio-break at a gas station only about 15 minutes before the rain began - and I had a heck of a time with navigation.  We managed to arrive a couple of hours late. That was about the wettest I’d been - since taking a shower earlier that day.

It rained solid all evening and much of the following day.

370 miles in nine hours with two stamps from two stops in two states.  The last 60 miles took 2:15 to cover; a blistering 26 MPH average speed.

Continue with Part three here: NPT East-to-West Pt1

---