Trip to New England Day 1

Trip to New England Day 1 - NC to NY

Earlier this month, I head up north with Joe Babyak and met up with Doug Kerr to explore New England. It was a great trip and the weather somewhat cooperated (more on that in the days to come). The first part of the trip was going from Raleigh, NC to Schenectady, NY.

Our Route: US 64, I-95, I-495, I-270, US 15, PA 581, I-81, US 22/322, US 11/15, US 15, I-86, NY 13, NY 79, NY 206, I-288, NY 7, NY 337 into Schenectady.

We took this route so I could pick up a few more counties...and I did pick up one in PA (Tioga) and two in New York (Schyler and Tompkins). It was also the first time I took US 11/15 through the central part of the state north of Harrisburg. And I really enjoyed the drive. The US 15 freeway (Future Interstate 99) north of Williamsport is very impressive and may be the most scenic freeway in Pennsylvania.

Photos from this leg of the trip can be found here.

Our first real stop wasn't until just south of Ithaca, NY. Just off of NY 13 in the town of Newfield is a covered bridge. The bridge was built in 1853 and underwent a refurbishing project about ten years ago. There is a small park that sits next to the bridge and along the West Branch of Cayuga Creek.

Unfortunately, we didn't visit the bridge at the best time of day as you can tell from the glare in the photos.

Our other stop was on Doug's suggestion which is the waterfall at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca. The falls are easy to visit as it sits just off of NY 13.

Oh, how I wish I had brought my tripod this trip.

The park has a number of hiking trails as well that run along the gorge. Campsites are also at the park. Ithaca is home to a number of gorges and waterfalls. Doug has pretty much photographed all of them. During all four seasons, too.

That's it for Day 1. Would loved to have stopped in Greene, NY for a bit, but we were hungry and pressed for time. Getting up at 5:30-6 am the next day was going to be rough.

Comments

qguy said…

You're right about US 15 in PA north of Williamsport. That is one truly dramatic highway.

What may be the second most scenic freeway in PA is US 322 between Harrisburg and State College (and continuing south on I-99 from State College to about Tyrone is a good extension to that drive). Mountain passes, river gorges, changes of elevation, and many miles of terraced freeway. Gorgeous anytime, but especially in the fall.

12:57 PM

Ghost Town Tuesday; Vineland, Florida; the town killed by Disney

Vineland is a small ghost town located in southwest Orange County, Florida near the junction of Florida State Road 535 and Interstate 4. Vineland is somewhat unique due to it largely being squeezed out of existence by Lake Buena Vista which is the company town where Disney World is located. Vineland was founded in the late 1800s as Englewood. The town name of Englewood changed to Orange Center in 1911 before finally assuming the name Vineland in 1924. Much like the rest of Orange County the community of Vineland was centered around Citrus Grove. In the case of Vineland said orange groves were centered around Ruby Lake. The end of Vineland came as the Disney Corporation began purchasing parcels of citrus grove land to build Lake Buena Vista. Vineland fell into a sharp decline in the 1960s but the community managed to continue to exist to modern times. Much of the street grid of Vineland still exists east of FL 535 but most of the original structures are either gone or falle

Old NY 10 and Goodman Mountain in the Adirondacks

Old highway alignments come in all shapes and sizes, as well as taking some different forms after their lifespan of serving cars and trucks has ended. In the case of an old alignment of what was NY 10 south of Tupper Lake, New York, part of the old road was turned into part of a hiking trail to go up Goodman Mountain. At one time, the road passed by Goodman Mountain to the east, or Litchfield Mountain as it was known at the time. As the years passed, sometime around 1960, the part of NY 10 north of Speculator became part of NY 30, and remains that way today from Speculator, past Indian Lake and Tupper Lake and up to the Canadian Border. At one time, the highway was realigned to pass the Goodman Mountain to the west, leaving this stretch of road to be mostly forgotten and to be reclaimed by nature. During the summer of 2014, a 1.6 mile long hiking trail was approved the Adirondack Park Agency to be constructed to the summit of the 2,176 foot high Goodman Mountain. For the first 0.9 mi

Oregon State Highway 58

Also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18, the route of Oregon State Highway 58 (OR 58) stretches some 86 miles between US 97 north of Chemult and I-5 just outside of Eugene, Oregon. A main route between the Willamette Valley region of Oregon with Central Oregon and Crater Lake National Park, the highway follows the Middle Fork Willamette River and Salt Creek for much of its route as it makes its way to and across the Cascades, cresting at 5,138 feet above sea level at Willamette Pass. That is a gain of over 4,500 in elevation from where the highway begins at I-5. The upper reaches of OR 58 are dominated by the principal pinnacle that can sometimes be seen from the highway, Diamond Peak, and three nearby lakes, Crescent, Odell and Waldo (Oregon's second largest lake). OR 58 is chock full of rivers, creeks, mountain views, hot springs and waterfalls within a short distance from the highway. OR 58 was numbered as such by the Oregon State Highway Department in 1940. OR 58 is a del

Gribblenation

Search This Blog