10/27/2013: HOME!
For those of you who don't already know we arrived home on 10/19 about 3:00 PM! We had a wonderful trip but are glad to be home! This will be the final post of this trip. Thank you to all of you for following the blog.

ALMOST HOME!

The last day out Trox rode some new single track trails (at least to him) outside of Fruita CO. He came home tired and hungry not to mention muddy. We spent that last night in a KOA in Fruita and got up early the next morning and hit the road with home in sight (well almost)!

THE bike

self portrait

Some of the single tracks

More of them with the
Colorado River in the distance

He spotted these rafters on the river

There always has to be at least one
bird picture but a pigeon???
Oh, well, that was the best he could do.

On his way back down

Some statistics from our trip:
We drove almost 10,000 miles and stayed at over 60 places. We left Monday, 4/29 and returned on Saturday, 10/19 - 9 days short of 6 months! Overall we had a wonderful time!

Where we stayed:
04/29 - Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming - N41.17827 W105.24525
04/30 - George Clayton Hall County Park, Nebraska - N40.87740 W98.36932
5/1 - Lake Macbride State Park, Iowa - N41.79728 W91.57413
5/2 - Pokagon State Park, Indiana - N41.71135 W85.02976
5/3-4 - Sparrow Pond Family Campground, Erie, Pennsylvania - N41.98214 W80.01358
5/5 - Walmart - Syracuse, New York - N43.06262 W76.06121
5/6 - Private CG in Adirondack Park, New York - N43.80823 W73.48909
5/7 - KOA type CG, New Hampshire - N44.49495 W71.59339
5/8 - Sebago Lake State Park, Maine - N43.91724 W70.59836
5/9-7/15 - The POS in Belfast Maine - N44.42943 W68.98503
7/16-21 - Moosehead Family CG, Maine - N45.43711 W69.58680
7/22-24 - Indian Pond, Maine - N45.45448 W69.86080
7/25 - Moxie Pond, Maine - N45.25381 W69.82942
7/26-27 - Little Austin Pond, Maine - N45.23232 W69.78477
7/28-29 - Moosehead Family CG, Maine - N45.43711 W69.58680
7/31 - Lily Bay Pond State Park, Maine - N45.58013 W69.55067
8/2-3 - Ripogenus Lake, Maine - N45.88329 W69.22339
8/4-5 - Harrington Lake, Maine - N45.95107 W69.19063
8/6 - In the middle of the road, Williams Pond, Maine - N45.96962 W69.09496
8/7-8 - Katahdin Shadows CG, Maine - N45.61651 W68.55161
8/9-11 - Scraggly Lake, Maine - N46.22979 W68.74444
8/12 - Hay Lake, Maine - N46.13015 W68.71887
8/13 - Penobscot River, Maine - N46.13161 W68.79395
8/14 - Birch Point CG, Maine - N46.03799 W68.19819
8/15 - Grand Lake, Maine - N45.66812 W67.79136
8/16-17 - Keenes Lake Family CG, Keene Lake, Maine - N45.11201 W67.16963
8/18-19 - Reversing Falls on Cobscook Bay, Maine - N44.88323 W67.13110
8/20 - Cobscook Bay State Park, Maine - N44.84978 W67.15847
8/21 - Timberland Acres CG, Maine - N44.50632 W68.39324
8/23-24 - Rocky Lake, Maine - N44.83577 W67.44558
8/26-27 - Stetson Shores CG, Pleasant Lake, Maine - N44.87294 W69.12829
8/28-30 - Mount Blue State Park, Maine - N44.67833 W70.45062
9/1 - Rangeley Lake State Park, Maine - N44.93892 W70.71985
9/4 - Maidstone State Park, Vermont - N44.63871 W71.64269
9/5 - Moose Brook State Park, New Hampshire - N44.39888 W71.23070
9/6-7 - Brighton State Park, Vermont - N44.79461 W71.85215
9/8-9 - Little River State Park, Vermont - N44.38956 W72.76437
9/10-11 - Pine Valley RV Resort, Vermont - N43.65928 W72.38546
9/12-13 - Private Home, New Hampshire - N43.70184 W72.16556
9/14 - Emerald Lake State Park, Vermont - N43.26703 W73.01145
9/15 - Gale Meadows, Vermont - N43.16761 W72.86375
9/16 - Greenwood Lodge, Vermont - N42.87820 W73.07582
9/17 - Woodford State Park, Vermont - N42.88457 W73.03992
9/18 - Camping on the Battenkill, Vermont - N43.08370 W73.15104
9/19 - Moreau Lake State Park, New York - N43.22953 W73.70762
9/20-21 - Green Lakes State Park, New York - N43.05139 W75.97324
9/22 - Taughanock Falls State Park, New York - N42.54553 W76.60474
9/23-24 - Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania - N41.34203 W76.30002
9/25-10/5 - Private Home - Nantmeal Road, Pennsylvania - N40.14256 W75.73065
10/6-7 - Private Home - East Lanark Road, Delaware - N39.82093 W75.62658
10/8 - KOA, Fredericksburg, Virginia - N38.16853 W77.47526
10/9-10 - Private Home - Telegraph Road, Virginia - N37.95202 W77.48939
10/11 - Private Home - Horseshoe Farm Road, Virginia - N37.31008 W80.62879
10/12 - Moorehead, Kentucky - N38.20043 W83.48054
10/13 - Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park, Illinois - N38.10774 W88.94775
10/14 - Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri - N39.06412 W92.94150
10/15 - Kanopolis State Park, Kansas - N38.65497 W98.00156
10/16 - High Plains Camp Ground, Kansas - N39.18686 W100.87235
10/17 - Glenwood Canyon Resort, Colorado - N39.55750 W107.29220
10/18 - Monument RV Park, Fruita, Colorado - N39.14909 W108.73752

THE END!

10/18/2013: Kokopelli Trail head - Fruita, Colorado
We continue to make rapid progress towards home!

St. Louis Missouri

Kansas City Missouri

Colorado

The Front Range west of Denver!

Campsite in Glenwwood Springs CO
All alone along the Colorado River

Today we are in Fruita Colorado so Trox can ride some really good single-track and then tomorrow we will push on in to Utah! This will be my last post before we get home! We have both really enjoyed our trip but are looking forward to sleeping in a big bed and having a house to spread out in. Plus we are both looking forward to getting back in our routine especially the gym!

My last post ended with my paddle on Rend Lake. Trox also paddled that lake the next morning and as I said he has a new camera so he came back with great bird pics.

Great Egret

Great Heron

A Flycatcher of some variety

Coots

Our next major stop after Illinois wasn't until Kansas where we spent a cold night at Kanopolis Lake State Park. Once again the federal shutdown bit us as we were hoping to stay in a different campground on the same lake but alas it is operated by the Core of Engineers and therefore federal - ARGHHHH!

Sunset over Kanopolis Lake

The next morning saw us heading for Cheyenne Bottoms which is a very important wet land for migrating birds. Last year we also visited this area about the same time and found the wet lands DRY. This year they are very wet and there are lots of birds!

Red-winged Black Birds

A Great Heron in amazing camouflage

Coots

Black Ibis

Black Ibis

Black Ibis with
Sandpiper in the foreground

Sandpipers

Sandpipers

hmmmmmmmmm

10/13/2013: Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park, Whittington IL

Now in Illinois!

Well, as you can see from our location, we are making progress towards home. When we left the Cochranes in Pennsylvania we headed on down the road to the Smiths, Steve, Margaret, and Ellie. They live in Centerville Delaware. Steve and Trox went to kindergarten together! Yish! I don't even remember first grade let alone have friends from that time era but Trox does and Steve and Margaret made us more than welcome. We stayed with them for two nights and had lots of fun. To get to Delaware Trox actually paddled the Brandywine River while I drove Merlin down. When he got to the point where we met he decided to take a bike ride and met a guy, Shawn, who rode with him for awhile and showed him some great single track! Shawn also recommended some other places in the area to ride.

The Brandywine River

Wild flowers along the paddle

A covered Bridge

A turtle

While we stayed with Steve & Margaret we actually drove back up to PA and went to a mushroom farm to buy fresh 'shrooms - YUMMMMM - and went to the Brandywine Battlefield and the museum. At the Battlefield there is a Sycamore Tree that Uncle Jim told us to see. It was living when the constitution was signed. It is a pretty impressive tree.

The commemorative plaque

It is big

It didn't hug back

We left Steve & Margaret's and pushed on towards Virginia to see my sister. On the way we stopped so Trox could ride where Shawn had recommended. It was a great ride and included a skills section which was very challenging. Because of our stopping we managed to hit the beltway in DC at 4:30 - oh joy! Ended up it wasn't too bad because of the government shutdown!

Bryan's field trail at White Clay

Part of the skills section.
I wouldn't want to walk on that
let alone ride a bike!

Glad we were not going the other way!

We stayed at my sister's for two nights and while we were there Trox changed the oil in Merlin and we did some general cleaning and cooking and laundry and etc. From there we headed for Donna's (many of you know her) parents - more Smiths, Norma & Tom in western Virginia. They live just across from the New River and have an amazing view. On the way we drove about 50 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unfortunately it was foggy about half the time and of course the visitor centers were all closed due to the shutdown! But we still got to see lots of pretty views!

The Blue Ridge Parkway

We only spent one night with Norma & Tom and now are "barn running" heading for home! Last night was spent in Kentucky and tonight we are in Illinois not too far from St. Louis. One of the things we did at my sister's was to pick up some packages of things we had ordered along the road one of which was a new camera to replace the one that Trox uses since it died. So now he is supplying me with bird pictures again!

Along the Kanawha River in West Virginia

Along the Kanawha River in West Virginia

Canada Geese
along the Kanawha River in West Virginia

a bee

The Kanawha River where we stopped for lunch
in Dunbar West Virginia

And now we are spending the night along the Rend Lake in Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park in Illinois. When we arrived we had lots of sunlight left so I paddled and Trox rode! The lake is huge so I stayed in the little coves where the water was calmer.

Sparrows at our breakfast stop

Rend Lake

Crossing the Ohio River

A bird on Trox' ride