On the road: Pennsylvania Bound

June 7, 2022

After being stuck at home in Houston since last October, we eagerly anticipated a summer road trip. Our first major destination of this trip was Johnstown, PA to visit Brian's mother.

We planned our route up through Kentucky so we could finish off our geocaching goal of every county in the state. Of course, there were interesting things to see all along our route.

Our first campsite was on the Arkansas River not far from Little Rock.

A nice breeze kept us comfortable.

We stopped at a memorial park at the site of a B-17 crash site with a mock-up

of the aircraft.

An early morning visit to Little Rock National Cemetery

Junction Bridge - Little Rock, Arkansas

Grafitti Wall in front of Graceland, Memphis,

no Elvis impersonators around at the time of our visit

We visited the Crystal Grotto in a cemetery in Memphis to see the handiwork of Dionicio Rodriguez.

We have encountered his distinctive concrete sculptures in San Antonio. He made them to look like real

wood. The Grotto is built in a hillside and features scenes from the Bible.

The bridge is made out of concrete, but looks like wood. There is a more elaborate one in San Antonio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionicio_Rodriguez

We allowed two days in Kentucky to find geocaches in 28 more counties to finish our goal of finding caches in every county. (We have done the same thing in 34 other states so far.) One of the counties we wanted to visit brought is right past Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park.

The memorial building was built in 1909 in honor of the Lincoln's centennial.

There are 56 steps to represent the 56 years of his life.

The log cabin inside is not the actual Lincoln cabin, but is typical of the era.

Cornerstone laid by President Theodore Roosevelt

image composed of pennies

We camped near Wolf Creek Dam on Cumberland Lake, Kentucky. The fish hatchery and dam were within walking distance of our campsite. We also enjoyed a nearby trail in the forest.

Cool fog over the water at the foot of the dam

On through Ohio. We stopped to see the Newark Earthworks (constructed 100 to 400 BCE). We have learned that it is best to visit points of interest early in the day when we can. We have visited several well-known prehistoric mound sites in other states, but this one is the most impressive.

entrance to the Great Circle

Eagle Mound in the middle of the Great Circle

golf course within a section of mounds

having fun on a swinging bridge in Newark, Ohio

Our first $100+ gas fillup

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

We have made many visits to Johnstown over the years, but have never gone to mass

at St. John Gaulbert Cathedral so we decided to head downtown on Sunday morning.

closeup of the bell tower

In front of the newspaper office

We took Brian's mother on a drive and went up to Grandview Cemetery to visit his Grandad Kissell's grave. This is where the unidentified victims of the 1889 flood are interred.

We drove a stretch of the Lincoln Highway and ended up at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

We have made three or four visits to the Flight 93 Memorial since 9/11 and this time we went out very early in the morning. It was a very different experience with just the birds, wildflowers, and us.

Wall of Names of the victims

looking through to the flight path of the aircraft

Brian funnin' around with his mother

We have had nice visits with aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were able to make a video call with our son, Mark, and his kids back in Houston. The kids were excited to see the blanket on their great-grandmother's bed with photos taken of them when we were all here last June.