We arrive on 07/03/2013 at Cherry Hill RV Park for a week. Then we move to Outdoor World Gettysburg Farm in Dover, PA on 07/10/2013 for another week. On 07/17/2013, we drove to Thousand Trails Timothy Lake South in Bushkill, PA for the ESCAPEE Rally on the 07/19/2013 thru 07/21/2013. During our stay on 07/27/2013 We visited two waterfalls: Resica Falls and Bushkill Falls. Situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Resica Falls is located on the privately owned Resica Falls Scout Reservation hosting over 3,000 Scouts each summer and thousands more year-round. The Falls area is open for the public to enjoy during daylight hours. All visitors are asked to park in the paved parking lot at the entrance of the property and stay within the falls area by remaining behind all cables, gates, and marked areas. There is no swimming, no smoking, no walking out on the rocks, no drones, no fires (including bar-b-ques), and no fishing in the falls area. Absolutely no alcohol, illegal substances, firearms, or fireworks are allowed on the property under any circumstance. Please leave your pets in your vehicle at all times during your visit. Please help us maintain this beautiful outdoor area by taking all of your trash with you. The picture is of the Resica Falls.
High in the uplands of the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania, streams of crystal pure water bubble up through rifts in primeval rock. These are the headwaters of Bushkill Creek, a great marsh alive with the call of wild birds. As the waters begin their descent toward the Delaware River far below, they move ever faster toward Bushkill Falls, As the stream drops over the edge of a 100-foot cliff, the majestic Main Falls. From the deep pool at the bottom, banked by ferns, mosses, and wildflowers, the creek now drops another seventy feet through a long and spectacular gorge strewn with gigantic boulders. Trails and bridges lace the area, affording splendid views. Charles E. Peters first opened Bushkill Falls to the public in 1904, with a single path and a swinging bridge over the head of the main falls. Bushkill Falls is still owned by the Peters family. The picture is of the Bushkill Falls.
Also, on 07/29/2013, We visited Eckley Miners Village and Buttermilk Falls. The story of the Eckley village and the people who lived and worked in it is one of dynamic economic and social change. Beginning more than 160 years ago, it exemplified the clamor and conflict of the anthracite coal industry, which almost singlehandedly fueled the early stages of America’s industrial revolution. Today, Eckley is a museum representing the lives of the immigrant anthracite coal miners and their families. Come for a visit and experience life in northeastern Pennsylvania coal patch towns during the time when coal was an essential industrial fuel. The picture is of Main Street Towards Visitor Center.
The Buttermilk Falls in East Stroudsburg, PA is located near the junction of Buttermilk Falls Road. The picture is of The East Stroudsburg Buttermilk Falls.
Our next stay was at Outdoor World Gettysburg Farm in Dover, PA on 07/31/2013 and Visit Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, PA on 08/04/2013. The opening of the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in April, 2008 was the culmination of a 30-year effort by the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society to acquire a permanent facility to house and display its collection of Reading Railroad locomotives, rolling stock, artifacts and documents, so that the story of how the Reading Railroad shaped communities could be shared with the public. Although we’ve made significant strides in the development of the Museum, much more remains to be done. Passenger excursions between Temple and Hamburg will be operated at first. Service is envisioned to expand to a full schedule between Reading and Southern Schuylkill County. The excursion will carry visitors in historic Reading Railroad cars through scenic Northern Berks and Southern Schuylkill Counties, allowing passengers to enjoy the Schuylkill River and the many recreational and cultural attractions of the communities along the line. The picture is of Display Cases in Museum.
We also drove to Fort Louden, PA to visit Fort Louden. The fort was named after the Earl of Loudoun, John Campbell who became Commander of British forces in North America in July 1756. There were at least two other Fort Loudouns – one in Winchester, VA, and one in Tennessee. Through much of its life, Fort Loudoun was a stopping off point for both men and supplies going westward. The Forbes Expedition of 1758 depended on the fort for protection as they constructed 200 miles of road in the Pennsylvania wilderness. It also was a meeting place for discussions with Indians to convince them to ally themselves with the British. Troops garrisoned at the fort defended the area but were also responsible for the maintenance and security for their part of Forbes Road. The new road was the line of transport for men, supplies and communication. At the end of the French and Indian War in 1760, the fort’s garrison was reduced to a skeleton crew until Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763. This touched off renewed Indian military action. The picture is of Fort Louden.
Then on 08/14/2013 We traveled to Lancaster, PA to visit Landis Valley Museum. In the 1700s shipload after shipload of German immigrants landed in the colonial port of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Germans made up 40% of the southeastern Pennsylvania population by 1790. These immigrants and their descendants created a distinct culture with folk traditions, decorative arts, and a language (Pennsylvania German) based upon their Germanic heritage. As Americans, they continued to use patterns from the homeland in erecting their buildings, in decorating their furniture, pottery, and family documents, and in practicing their folkways and religion. Like the other American settlers, over 90% of the German immigrants became farmers. They toiled in Southeastern Pennsylvania, a region known as the “breadbasket of America”. Here, and especially in Lancaster County, farmers employed many of the most advanced agricultural techniques tilling some of America’s most fertile land. Pennsylvania Germans labored in a variety of crafts and businesses, as clockmakers and clergymen, tavern keepers and tinsmiths, storekeepers and weavers. Farmers and craftspeople marketed their products with an interdependent economic system of farmsteads and craft shops, villages, cities, and overseas trade. Because of this interdependency, by the late 1800s, most Pennsylvania Germans spoke English as well as their German dialect. George and Henry Landis came from such a heritage and were the founders of the Landis Valley Museum. Their German ancestors had settled in Lancaster County during the early 1700s. Recognizing the significance of their culture and its traditions, the brothers began to collect Pennsylvania German objects from the 1700s and 1800s. They built a collection of over 75,000 objects and established a small museum in the 1920s on the grounds of their Landis Valley homestead. The picture is of several of the houses in the village.
