Traveling in ‘Murica

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Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, ISO 500, ƒ/2.8, 1/500

This past month we decided to drive our son to a survival school rather than putting him on a plane. It was an incredible adventure. I’m hopping to share some of the many areas we visited, and the stories behind them. I will add more photos to my photography facebook page. You can find it here.

One of our first stops was near the Mayberry Station Grill in Fancy Gap, Virginia. Kind of a touristy stop; but definitely worth checking out!

The scenery in Maryland and Pennsylvania was breathtaking, even in the summertime. Amazing homesteads and barns, and passes through mountains that looked like fairy forests!

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The real reason behind this northern venture was to bring our son Ian up the Civil Air Patrol’s Ranger School at Hawk Mountain, PA. We planned this trip for close to a year!

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Our next stop after dropping Ian off in eastern PA, was to head back to West Virginia to spend a few days with some dear friends. They were kind enough to show us some of the sights and sounds! David is a Pastor, and Shannon a writer.

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One of our next stops was French Creek State Park south of south of Birdsboro, PA. It was a nice place to camp, and there was a historic site about a mile away. The Hopewell Furnace Historical Site was an amazing find. We were just about the only ones there, and walked through the entire estate reading and learning about the early days of metal making. I took a few photos with my iPhone, wish I’d brought my 6D along. It really was a treat! I didn’t get a good picture of the Hopewell Furnace; but found this one by Paul Duda via Flickr. All the other ones… yeah, my iPhone.
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On the way to our next stop in New Jersey, we stopped through Bethlehem to pick up something for our 20 year old… and stumbled across the Bethlehem Steel Factory, which had recently been converted into SteelStacks which hosts big concerts; but also has installed walkways bringing you right up into the old steel factory which is in the state it was left in after closing prior to 2001. There was great information on placards throughout the old factory. It was really interesting to see but to talk to people who had family members that worked there.

Camping in New Jersey was wet; but nice. I pictured NJ so differently. Rolling hills and green and beautiful. We found a canal that had been used to transport supplies up a stream, and was mainly used by fishermen; but the Kayaks fit nicely and offer us some nice time not he water.

After a couple days here, we journeyed a little further to reconnect with Lorretta’s adopted family. She grew up in New Jersey. Here’s here story: 2500 Miles, A Story of Life, Death and Resurrection

I’ll do a separate post on our time in DC. It was really more amazing that I could have imagined.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

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