Charles W. Moore

Erie, PA & past days

We left Maine on Thursday 6 Sept after a two day extension.  We wanted to stay longer but potential plans and weather said it was time to leave.  That very long day we drove 575 miles to Verona, NY.  SAM chipped in for a 2 hour long drive when I was really tired of driving after 6 hours.  When we cleared the Boston corridor SAM said she would drive and I was ready for a stop.  As she drove, I faded into and out of dream paradise until I was finally awake.  With my urgent inputs for this correction or that she said it was my time to drive.  I finished up with a 1.5 hour sprint to Verona Villages  RV Park.  We both rested well for 2 days and headed out for Erie, PA.

The trip to Erie, Pa and our next rv park was uneventful 4 hour plus/minus.  We arrive at exit 18 and turned right to Piscque Iles RV park. It was easy to find and we started to check in but I decided to call the number in the phone.  Guess what?  Wrong RV park.  I left, tails between our legs, and went to West Haven RV Park which is a mom n pop.  It is a nice place and they upgraded us for the confusion.  A restful night ensued.

Today, Sunday, we ate in the RV and about 1000+ we left for Presque Isle State Park 6 miles to the NE on 832.  Wow, what a nice and free state park.  Lots of activities and much to see. We headed for lunch about 1400 hrs at a local place.  On the way in, it started to rain and rain and rain up to this very minute of 1900 hours.  It looks like an all nighter and tomorrow too.  Thanks Heaven they have 17 local OTA TV stations – including PBS.  I watched the obligatory woodworking programs this morning and very much enjoyed.

Monday morning 0730: Raining intermittent hard right now – a remnant of TS Gordon.  All Sunday afternoon from 1400 hrs it rained hard and very hard overnight.  I awoke in a panic dreaming we were floating ans sinking in the mud.  A quick check outside showed it was only a dream.  SAM was up at 0530 with a whisper that she was taking Abby out for a nature call.  After that it was no going back to sleep so I raised myself out of bed and started trying to find a site to camp at Sandusky, OH.  I found a couple likely ones but Crystal Rock Campground looks like the best access for us since we will be there only 2 nights.  We have been in this area several times but as sailors, aviators but now the RV is a new way.  In any case, we leave tomorrow AM for the short drive of 3 hours or the other option is to just go all the way to Indiana depending on campground reservations.

We made reservations for Escapee’s Rainbow’s End Livingston campground for the month of Nov 15 to Dec 17 and blocked out January and February too.  I do not remember the exact dates so I have to call them back today but I need to notify Marc and block it into my smartphone.

Acadia / Belfast / Trenton / Ellsworth in Maine

We arrive at the Timberview Acres RV Park and I was tired, in spite of being a short drive of 4 hours±.  On the way we took I-295 around Freeport and then joined with I-95 again for the remainder of the trip until we exited to I-395 for a short distance and in on SR-A1 to Timberview.  We set up quickly to get the air on since it was 96°F and humid. I was sweating like a race horse by the time I tried to set up the water softener which had a cross threaded nylon garden hose fitting.  So it was off to Home Depot to get brass replacements.  Everything went smooth after that.

The next day the 29th, we reconnoitered the North side of Acaida main island and Bar Harbor where we ate at Atlantic Brewing Company – Middle Place.  We made a few required stops and drove up Cadillac Mountain.  This was a nice place on this cooler but slightly hazy day.  I was tired after that so we made our way back to the RV park. The third day we still had energy and went on the bus route 3 around several sites and back to Village Green in Bar Harbor.  We walked quite a bit and went to the harbor too where we took pictures.

This was perhaps the best day, 30th,  on the North side of the main island. The South side which is Route 7 which includes SW Harbor and NE Harbor. I love SW Harbor area.  NE Harbor is pretty cool too but SW has a place as a real friendly place, approachable people and nice environment.  We drove most of the route.  The next few days are clouded in a haze of do this and do that.  So here we are on our next to last full day and will have to use the snippets below as a reminder.Somewhere along the line we washed the car, went to Home Depot for more bras fittings, ate at a BBQ place, washed clothes plus a myriad of other essentials.

On the 3td of November we drove to Belfast, another quaint Maine coastal town, we walked the water front down the steep hill and then up again.  From there we returned on highway 1 to the bridge around Penobscot that has the highest observatory on a free span bridge.  We paid the $ for the entry fee and took the elevator to the top.  It was worth it so glad we did.  From there we ran across a Baba 30 that I thought was a 35′ model.  Anyway it was in good shape but not the 35 that I was looking for.

Today the 4th we drove down hwy 3 and took the 102 split south looking for Atlantic Brewing Company.  Of course, we drove right by and with SAM running the GPS and myself using the Smartphone we managed to get into a donnybrook.  However, we did find the place on an obscure side street and obscure entryway.  We ate, we tasted, we bought some T-shirts et. al. Upon return home I cleaned the windscreen and side windows.

Tomorrow we have no plans on our last day here in Maine.  I am sure we will find a rewarding venture to fulfil the day.

Acadia NP 2018 Day 1 – 3

28 August: Timberland Acres RV Park is a nice park with good entry and exit plus huge pull through – certainly, the best of the trip so far.  We signed up to stay at site 202 leaving on the 4th to head back to Indiana.  That first afternoon we went to Walmart and Home Depot to buy food and some portable water softener parts.

29 August: Today we reconnoitered Acadia NP with  quick drive through to get the feel of the park, went to the Visitor Center to get the pass, washed the car and bought some more parts at Home Depot. It rained a lot this day and hard at times in the evening,  While in the park,  we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain so we could see some of the views and they were spectacular. By the time we arrived back at the RV, I was tired of driving.  SAM took Abby for a longer walk while I sat outside and talked with Bill in the neighboring RV.

30 August: Sharon drove through the light rain to Bar Harbor so we could eat some of the best fries anywhere. my goat cheese burger tasted good too.  After we ate lunch we walked down to the harbor, took some photos and then went up to Village Green to catch the #3 bus out to Thunder Hole but it was not thundering so we just rode the bus around the whole route.The bus driver was friendly and answered many of our questions.  Looking out of the bus, I must say I was not too impressed with this loop.

Tomorrow, the 31st, we were planning another bus tour but we may drive as it is more flexible on our site planning.

Acadia National Park Trip 2018

The evening of 20 August we went to the Gideons picnic in Angola.  Rain was coming down freely and we had it in a members garage.  It was quite nice.  We went home and did the final packing and organizing for a Tuesday 21 August departure for Maine.  We departed more or less on time about 0930 after loading the Civic and closing the hangar door.

We drove up to I80/I90 and headed eastward towards our destination..  Our normal RV schedule is to get on the road by 1000 hrs and drive until 1500± so we were happy to see the first stop near Erie, PA click downward.  We had not made reservations so we picked out a RV Park and stayed the night of 21 August.

We left the next morning and proceeded on I90 east towards Verona, NY for our evening stop at Turning Stone RV Park.  After arrival in the early afternoon we drove to the Casino Complex to look around and to get a drink and a bite to eat.  Sharon looked good under the purple light so I took a picture of her with a color cast.  It looked good.  The food was OK but I left my bottle full of Lactose/Beano pills so that was a bit of a downer.  The next morning we left to travel towards York Beach and the trip was uneventful but I did discover something new.  Much to my surprise, the diesel tank fuel pipe will accommodate those big truck stop nozzles.  This opens up a whole new way for us to fuel at the truck islands.

We made our first landfall in Maine and proceeded to the York Beach RV Park on 23 August.  We were surprised to arrive at a  small,twisty gravel road in the middle of York Beach Village.  We saw some people walking so we asked if this was really the RV Park – they said yes so we turned the corner into the park, made contact with the owner lady Linda and unloaded the Civic from the tow dolly. Backing into site 15 was a treat as the spot is narrow and soft.  We left deep ruts in the grass an approach of site 14,  After that we setup for our stay and started exploring.

We ended up staying 5 days and needed every bit of it.  We went to the York Beach light house, Long Beach to the south of York, Kennebunkport and some small road touring SAM wanted to see.  I could say our highlight was to see the President George Bush Compound from Walkers point.  I think we had a good time and enjoyed the area in spite of the congestion.  We departed on for the 3 hour trip to Trenton, MR on 28 August about 1000.  The trip up was uneventful on I95/I295 and we stopped to fuel up once at a Circle K before arriving at Timberland Acres RV Park.

Today’s bit of sadness

The following link may persist but then again it may not so I will plagiarizer a short bit of it with credit to9 UMCOR ( a United Methodist affiliate):  https://www.umcor.org/umcor/resources/news-stories/2018/july/umcor-responds-to-muslim-travel-ban 

Here is the first paragraph or so.  Start –>

“Atlanta, GA, July 3, 2018 — The United Methodist Committee on Relief is alarmed by the implications of the June 26 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the authority of the president to impose what has come to be known as the “Muslim travel ban.”

We express our deep concern and objection on the eve of the annual celebration of the American Declaration of Independence that declares all people “free and equal.”

We agree with Church World Service and National Justice for Our Neighbors, our partners in migration ministries in the U.S., in finding the court’s ruling in Trump vs. Hawaii “discriminatory” and “dismaying.” There is nothing equal in it.

We affirm with our colleagues at the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society that the “decision institutionalizes Islamophobia, religious intolerance and racism in U.S. policy. It is a threat to religious freedom in the United States.” (See full statement.)” …….End

My old self exposed

There are several risks to being overloaded with disturbing/negative content.

• Complacency – becoming so used to the deluge that it all starts to seem normal.
• Paralysis – that is, being so overwhelmed, you can’t figure out what to do/how to move forward.
• Crisis perspective – you get trapped in the Breaking News cycle where everything seems like a potentially world-ending crisis to you.
• Depression/PTSD – you don’t have to be on the front line of a war have either/both. Disturbing content is absolutely a trigger.

It is really bad that people do not recognize these 4 signals.  Instead, one is threatened with dire consequences that do come true in a self-fulfilling prophesy sort of way.  Thank heaven I have not had these symptoms for several decades. PTL.  In any case I thought this interesting and should be presented.

Weekend Voting

The code/info/hyperlings below is about voting on weekends and eliminating infrequent voters from the record.  Check it out and do whatever you think is correct.  At least you are an informed voter if you consider.  Thank you.

How I learned to swim

Somehwere around 1949 0r 1950 I learned to swim.  the prelude to that was highly traumatic.  Mom had me down at Pleasant Lake beach, which is nothing like it is today, and tried to hold me flat on the water and told me to kick my feet and paddle my hands.  This was pretty much unsuccessful.  A week or so later, I was at the beach with the family and strayed westward towards the dreaded “drop off”.  I can tell you I knew I was pushing my luck but I did reach the end of the beach, near where it is today, and in the course of time started down the slope of no return.  Indeed, I was soon over my head and somewhat buoyant since I had full lungs.  However, I was slowly sliding down the very steep drop off to 20′.  I pretty quickly knew I was in a life or death struggle here. Instinct took over and I twisted around towards shore and with what little grip I could muster on the silty bottom tried to climb the slope. Soon I could feel some upward progress and soon made it above the water surface and gasped a breath.  It really scared me and is a vivid memory even to this day.

I decided right then and there I was going to swim and I did learn to swin in the next week or so – maybe even that same day but I have no recollection of that even other than the smiles of Mom and Dad.  The rest of the summer was bliss since all the restrictions of going to the beach were removed and my cousin Jim and I had a blast.  Cousin John also learned to swim sometime that summer and may have been a motivator too.  Every year after that and until they moved away when I was in the First Grade we were on the water and swimming.

I have loved the water all my life and was not really scared of it.  I ended up being a sailor on the big waters, a scuba diver of exotic spots and have never been far from the water every since.  Thanks Mom, Dad and Grandpa Lyons.

SCUBA Diving and other

After watching “DRENCHED” on Youtube I decided it was time to log this bit of life that is mine.

Somewhere around 1957 a Navy guy landed in Pleasant Lake with a big kit. And somehow he ended talking to Dad at the Hardware.  It turns out he was a UDT type guy from the Navy hitchhiking back to Michigan after his discharge.  Dad invited him to come to the evening family dinner and he agreed to do so.  Well, we had a great chat and finally he volunteered he had used the scuba gear and had the full outfit in his kit.  I had watched Loyd Bridges on Sea Hunt so I was really intrigued.  In the end, Dad had invited him to stay and teach Andy & I to scuba dive for the next week.  I immediately love the below water scene and embraced it fully.

That same summer I used all my savings and some from Dad to buy a scuba tank, fins, a small amount of weights and the regulator.  I started diving but had a problem – no one would fill my tank.  Angola had a place called Botts Welding,  that was right on top of where the current Walmart is now, but when I called they asked my age and I told him so he said only if Dad authorized it would he fill the tank.  Dad called him and he said OK.  Simple as that I was a Diver. No PADI, no certifications, no nothing.  Over the years a dive club formed in Angola and I was a loose associate.  They were all much older than me but I know the physics a lot more than they did so I was sort of adopted into the group.

Most of my diving was in Pit Lake at the time and the club loved this. The waters were not deep so it was a perfect training ground and we taught a lot of local divers in this lake.  It is the Boy Scout camp now and is totally off limits to the public , local or otherwise.  One day this guy with the last name V… brought a guy who was sort of marginal and not a good swimmer.  So we strapped on the gear and went down a few feet and came back up.  He seemed ok so we presented an lot of technical data relating to diving and he repeated it back.  We proceeded to dive the bottom across the lake from the beach and he was OK until we reached about 3/4 across the lake (about a 1/4 mile wide and 20′ at that spot).  He panicked and dashed for the surface fast.  We did not dare to follow so fast (you only can rise as fast as your smallest bubbles) but we did follow.  He was in full panic when we got to the surface so I started to Red Cross Lifeguard carry him to the beach.  The other guy V took over about half way back and we got him to the beach.  It was a bad deal and we never dove that lake again as a group.  Too bad since it was the perfect training and clear lake in the area.

The club did a lot of diving in Crooked Lake but the silt was so bad vis was only 5′ and not really good for anything except basic scuba breathing underwater.  Pleasant Lake did have an event called a “Submarine Rodeo” that we dove a lot in after years.. The Lions Club sponsored this event and all the divers in the tristate area would come to participate.  There was a “weight carry”, a find the submarine, fastest swim and other shallow water diving events like compass course, etc.  I almost won the weight carry and came in second one year.  I was also on TV, Channel 15, one year with a celebrity who wore my gear to go about 3′ under water and had a real interview on scuba diving.

There is lots more and if I ever get there again I will come back and add as an addendum.