Pictures 28: Adventuring on the Delaware River

About a week before Patrick and I decided we really needed to get outta dodge, we took what was going to be a day trip to High Point State Park in New Jersey and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It turned into an overnight camping trip that also included the Upper Delaware National Scenic River in New York.

We got a late start because I was lazy and wouldn't get out of bed, so for a while Patrick was quite cantankerous. He had wanted to do some serious hiking that day, but since I decided not to get out of bed til about 10 am, his plans were foiled. We tried to make the best of the day anyway, but when signage at the Delaware Water Gap was pretty much the worst we've encountered at any NPS site, then Pat pulled a tendon in his calf that he'd pulled a few weeks ago and which was just starting to heal, it was shaping up to be a pretty lame day.

Since we'd gotten such a late start, however, by about 5:30 or 6 pm, we were still tooling around northeastern Pennsylvania and I said... "Do you want to just - not go home?"

We were in Pat's Jeep, which still had all his camping equipment in it. So he said, um, okay. So we drove up to New York and along the upper Delaware on the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway until we found the Ascalona Campground. What the campground is, basically, is the property of an older couple who had a bunch of prime land along the Delaware and decided to do something awesome with it.

By the time we got there, it was probably near 7 pm, and there was a sign on the main office (aka the proprietors' house) that if you wanted to camp, ring the doorbell if it was before 8 pm - or, if it was after 8 pm, just pitch your tent and register in the morning. We rang the bell, and a woman with a heavy European accent came out and greeted us. When we told her we were just driving around and unexpectedly decided to spend the night, she smiled and said that instead of $15 per person, she'd charge us $12. She told us to camp anywhere - the campground was completely empty, but there was a large party coming in the next day, so we had our pick that night.

We drove down to the campsite furthest away from the main building and pitched the tent. We didn't have service at the campground, so we drove a little ways back south on the byway til we got a bar. I called home and told my parents I wouldn't be home that evening and that I'd see them tomorrow. Done and done.

I'll talk a little bit more about camping when the pictures come up...


This is the monument at NJ's highest point, which also happens to be right near the northernmost point of the state too.


We really couldn't have asked for a better day, weather-wise.

34 more images below the jump - click any one to make it bigger in Photobucket.

Sandy Hook revisited

Much like Morristown National Historical Park, I have been visiting the Sandy Hook area of Gateway National Recreation Area since I was a kid, but never went there specifically for its role in the National Park System. My family used to go down there to swim all the time when my brother and I were kids - there were no gaudy boardwalks and piers to distract us from the ocean (which was probably very convenient, since I was - and perhaps still am - one of those kids who insisted their parents buy them something at every possible opportunity), and it's essentially the northernmost and thus closest expanse of beach along the Jersey shore.

Patrick and I went down on Monday, June 14 - it's generally a good idea to do all of one's shore-visiting on a weekday, because weekends get pretty ridiculous (Pat said that, when he came into New Jersey on June 12, it was the first time he'd ever heard a radio traffic report on a weekend - it was most likely for shore traffic).

Gateway National Recreation Area has sections both in New Jersey and New York; the Sandy Hook unit is the only one in New Jersey, and in New York it has areas on the southern shore of Staten Island and in Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn and Queens. I've never been to either of the New York areas, mostly because they're a pain in the ass to get to. Sorry, New York, but that's just the way it is.

Pictures 13: Tennessee abandoned house

Okay, let's throw this in reverse a little bit; this actually happened before West Virginia did. When I was still in Knoxville, Patrick showed me this abandoned building by a train track, almost totally hidden by ivy.

Click any image to see the larger version on Photobucket.


From the outside


Aaaand from the inside

5 more images after the jump

Pictures 10: Abandoned house on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I have always had a thing for abandoned houses. A few years ago my friend Jessica and I drove cross-country from NM to NJ and went to some amazing houses in Colorado and Kansas; ever since then I have had the bug. I go into every house I can find. As I said in the North Carolina entry, I may someday pay for my adventures, but it will be worth it.

This house was just north of Groundhog Mountain. Judging by a calendar on the wall I judge it's been empty for about 29 years.

Click any image to see it bigger on Photobucket.


I first went to poke around this old barn, when I heard a clunking noise from inside. I called out to see if anyone was there, and...


...Someone was!


9 more images after the jump...

Pictures 7: North Carolina bridge

I freaked out when I saw this bridge from the road. I pulled over and got out to explore. I've never had any fear going into abandoned buildings, though people always warn me about squatters and rotting floors and broken glass and stuff like that. I can't not go inside. If someday I crash through a floor, it will be my repayment to the universe for a lifetime of seeing amazing abandoned houses.

This bridge was located just outside Cherokee, NC, along Route 19 (I think).

Click any image to see the larger version on Photobucket.







10 more images below the jump...

Pictures 1: New Mexico to Tennessee

I left New Mexico on May 7, 2010. I spent my first night in Conway, Arkansas, and arrived in the Great Smoky Mountains at about 6 pm on May 8. Here are some pics from that drive.

And yes, I did have some crud on my lens that I didn't notice... But this was pretty much the first time I ever used my new camera, so I think it's forgivable.

Click any image to view the full-sized version on Photobucket.

Newkirk, New Mexico. This is not the first time I stopped for gas at this little "town." A few winters ago my friend Clare and I drove cross-country, and we stopped here just after an ice storm had blanketed all the grass white and prickly. It was nice to explore in better weather. This is the old church.


The functional gas station is north of I-40, this one is south of I-40.

10 more pictures after the jump...