Day 695: Onward to New York

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Ben

This morning we conveniently woke up at Albert Airport, so I walked the PPG out to the runway for a flight:

Launch of flight #53:

It’s pretty, in a farm community kind of way:

Flying over the runway, the RV is parked on the right side of the photo. Walking the PPG out that quarter mile to the runway was not so much fun:

A lower pass, showing the RV on the right next to the hangar building:

Lining up for a landing:

Back at the RV, we packed up to head out:

M worked on his writing homeschool in the car:

After a good bit of driving, we arrived in New York, where it all started almost 700 days ago:

This afternoon I went for a bike ride up in the Harriman Mountains:

We will be in town for a while doing repairs on the house for the tenants. Trish and B hope to ride in the Tour de Simcha charity ride. Please contact us to help support B in her quest to be the youngest rider ever to ride the 72 miles to raise money to fund summer camp opportunities for special needs and seriously ill children.

Good Shabbos from Monsey, New York! Tonight we’re overnighting at a local synagogue, then moving the RV into our driveway on Sunday, which may be somewhat involved. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 694: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Ben

This morning the kids helped our friend’s kids to fix their bikes. They did most of the work themselves, but they did need to call in reinforcements:

We had a great time visiting!

After reluctantly saying goodbye, we drove a short distance to the Canal Exploration Center at Cuyahoga Valley National Park:

The park preserves the Ohio and Erie Canal, which allowed goods to travel freely from the farms and ports of Ohio to other parts of the country. Completed in the 1820s, it transformed Ohio from the poorest state in the Union to one of the wealthiest. The canal’s role in commerce diminished after the 1860s, as newly built railroad networks could transport goods more quickly than canal boats.

To deal with elevation changes along the canal, dozens of locks were built to allow ships to descend or ascend the canal:

The visitor center was very well done:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges and patches:

From the park, we drove east to overnight at Albert Airport near Phillipsburg, PA. Since we seem to be doing Airport camping somewhat frequently, I’ve added it as a camping type to the Camping Type Chart.

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 693: Remember the Raisin!

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Ben

Today we left Walmart and drove to River Raisin National Battlefield Park, one of only four National Battlefield Parks in the US, and the only one that preserves a battlefield site from the war of 1812. Here, American forces suffered a bitter defeat that ended with all but 30 of over 900 US troops either dead or captured. For American soldiers in subsequent battles, “remember the raisin!” was their battle cry:

There were great dioramas in the visitor center:

To receive their Junior Ranger badges, the kids had to complete a Geocaching activity that involved using GPS to find plaques in the ground that gave coordinates to the next plaque:

The battlefield north of what used to be Frenchtown, where US militia forces battled British troops and their Indian allies:

The visitor center has a garden where crops from the war’s time period are grown:

There was also an extensive dress-up area:

The kids handed in their workbooks and received their badges:

We left the park and drove east to Cleveland, where we overnighted in the driveway of our friends Yaakov and Dalit and their kids, whom we haven’t seen in five years or so. We stayed up much too late catching up!

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 692: Indiana to Michigan

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Ben

This morning I went on a bike ride from Walmart to explore the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I tried to get on to a bike trail, but it turned out to not be paved, so I passed it up:

After a while I rode out to the beach. At least this time there were waves:

Behind the dunes there was a marshland:

There are some abandoned roads here:

After the ride, we drove east and north to overnight at the Walmart of Monroe, Michigan. It’s our first time in Michigan:

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Kids Helping Kids

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Trish

For children with cancer or other serious illness, life as they knew it is over. Instead of happy, carefree childhoods, there are days filled with pain, isolation, treatment, and the knowledge of “can’t do this” and “can’t do that.” Not a great way to go through the first two decades of life.

There is one thing that gives sick children the chance to escape the misery of illness: a summer vacation at Camp Simcha or Camp Simcha Special. These wonderful camps, run by Chai Lifeline, give kids the chance to just be children once again. Every summer, more than 400 kids and teens get to play ball, go swimming and boating, exercise their creativity, and make friends with others also living with health challenges. They are no longer sick, they’re just kids. When they leave camp, they go home with friends and memories that will last them throughout the year and give them the will to keep fighting.

Because we believe so strongly in Chai Lifeline’s work, B and I have joined Tour de Simcha. We plan to raise over $5,000 together and we hope you will help us reach this goal by making a small tax-deductible donation of $100. Your support is a critical part of this effort and I know that together we can make a difference to these children. All donations are 100% tax-deductible and the Tour de Simcha website makes donations quick, easy, and secure. Click on the “contact us” link to the right, and we’ll send you the link!

We’ve been training and raising funds for the past few months and the big ride is on Tuesday, July 7th! B has made a lovely video that she would love to see go viral! After viewing her video, please take a moment to share it with others so we can reach as many people as possible in the next few days.