On Friday morning the two cars went their separate ways again so Richard and Linde could go to Dulles Airport to see the Air and Space Museum there. The one in Washington Mall was too small for all the exhibits the Smithsonian had to display.
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| One of the Lakes |
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| Flowstone |
Steve and I proceeded to Pennsilvania Amish area through some nice back roads and on the way, happened upon the Indian Echo Caverns. Stunning! Awesome! Beautiful! are the words that come to mind. Geological wonders greeted us at every turn! Huge stalactites and stalagmites, millions of years old as well as infant examples, crystal lakes, flowstone, and varied colors and sparkles were everywhere. We heard from our guide about the people who lived there; the first natives who used the caverns as a refrigerator (they are a constant 50 degrees all year) but had no written language so left no wall writings, then the Apaches who left extensive cave pictures, then 'graffiti' of early settlers who discovered the caves, and then the Pennsilvania Hermit who lived there for 19 years, until his death in 1821.
From there we continued on to Hershey, which has now become a theme park with about a half dozen roller coasters, outlet malls and other tourist attractions. The street lights are still shaped like Hersey kisses, but the whole area was unrecognizable from the last time we were here.
The Amish area is still the same, lovely rolling hills, large neat farms, clean cows, and stone houses. The little towns are filled with quaint old buildings, candle factories, quilt shops, bakeries, and shops. Hey! Why shouldn't the Amish take advantage of all the people who come to gawk at them.
We arrived in Fairfield, New Jersey very late, cold, wet, and hungry.
Saturday the 20th, was a day of heavy traffic and busy highways, but at least no rain. The only exciting thing was crossing the Hudson River via the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The Hudson River is the State Line between New Jersey and New York, and then on through New York State and into Connecticut to East New Haven. We arrived at our hotel early afternoon, so were able to work on the blog. We had both lunch and dinner at a neat restaurant that specilized in dessert, so dinner was a bowl of soup and a fabulous dessert.
Sunday the 21st, was a much better day; not so much traffic, some nice back roads, and we avoided the hailstorms that were forcast. We stopped in Newport to check out some of the historic sites. The beautiful architecture of the historic buildings has been preserved, the streets are lined with big old trees and lovely restored homes. Also the oldest synagogue in the United States is located here. We were very lucky to arrive when we did, as we wanted to see the inside of it, and they were getting ready for the governor to come and do some important ceremony. We 'sweet talked' the gentleman guarding the parking lot to let us leave our car there so we could get a peek. We got to look inside just before they locked it all up and set up security for the governor's arrival. |
| Touro Synagogue - 1763 |
