Day 1

Heading Out

Luckily, I still had the endless lists that I made for last summer’s cross-country trip, so I used those to gather things around the house that I needed. Sergio picked me up around 10:30 a.m. in the 1983 Chrysler E Class, the car I used to drive. I had my doubts about the car but Sergio said he just had the oil changed and the car was looked over for anything obvious, so that made me feel a little better.

We proceeded up the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension (PA 9) till just past the Lehigh Tunnel, the tenth longest vehicular tunnel in the US. Once at this tunnel, the serious mountain ranges begin which are much larger than the dinky foothills that we’re used to.

We got off the turnpike and headed east on US 209. It was a cloudy, humid day. If the Sun had been out, it would have been a hazy, miserable day. This road took us toward Stroudsburg, about 25 miles away. It started out nice; we saw an owl sitting atop a telephone pole. However, after a while it became more congested and by the time we hit the Saturday afternoon traffic in Brodheadsville, we had had enough. So we got off the “main drag” and turned on PA 715. This road took us near Effort and Appenzell, Pennsylvania. It was a nice road, many trees and very scenic. The plan was to take this road to I-80 east, which we would use to cross the Delaware River.

Delaware Water Gap

Once over the river, the first exit is for the this park, so we went to the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center at the southern end of the park to get some information.

The obvious question: What does the name Delaware Water Gap mean? The gap is a point where the river cuts through the Kittatinny Mountain Range, a carved out notch in the mountain range. The mountains here are covered with forest and the occasional outcrop of rock. It was still cloudy and some low lying clouds were visible hovering over the mountain tops, not a very picturesque day.

Unlike most recreational areas that surround rivers, this one was not put in place to compensate the public for damming up the river. Originally, it was to surround the Tocks Island Reservoir. Land around the proposed dam site was purchased (not without hostility); however, in 1978, Congress designated this section of the river part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, which protects it from development such as dams.

The Tocks Island Dam project was finally deauthorized in 1992. Also protected is the stretch of river above the park, the Upper Delaware National Scenic and Recreation Area. This means the Delaware is safe from development from Hancock, New York, near the northern Pennsylvania border, south to I-80. It has been said that the Delaware is one of the cleanest major rivers in the Northeast. This is because it was never used for industry as many of the other rivers were (and still are). There are no major cities on the river until the Philadelphia region.

We walked through the visitor center, down a staircase that took us to the banks of the river, and stepped onto the floodplain. It was muddy but grassy; the river was narrow and shallow. Tree-covered mountains are on either side of us; it is quite beautiful. We drove north on a road that hugged the river on the New Jersey side. It passes through the Worthington State Forest which is a plush, deciduous forest. Wherever a sliver of sunlight is able to make it to the ground, ferns cover the area. Otherwise, the floor is clean, not overgrown with vines and thicket, but very neat and clean; just not enough light to support a lot of plants.

We drove about two-thirds through the park and had enough with the road conditions so we made our way east to pick up a more traveled path. We got lost in the poorly marked roads in the atlas but eventually found a road that was on the map.

On our way out of the mountains, of course, we had to go down. The brakes didn’t appreciate this too much and at the bottom of the hill began to smoke a bit in protest. We pulled off the road and got out of the car. I was fairly sure that it was nothing, but as Sergio said, “Let’s go see the fire.” We were parked in a very nice area alongside a river and near an old one-lane bridge we had just crossed. Upon inspection and a short cooling off period we continued on.

I was getting concerned now because it was almost two in the afternoon and Sergio wanted to see the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island but I didn’t want to arrive at Linda and Tom’s really late, so we had to figure out a plan. We decided to go a little further into the middle of Connecticut and then, based on what time it was, figure out what to do.

We exited the park at Peters Valley Craft Village. I don’t know the significance of this tiny village, but it is very pretty and looks old fashioned. We found our way to NJ 560 and took it to US 206 and Tuttles Corner, New Jersey. We turned north and in less than 10 miles we were back in the park and crossing the Delaware again. Of course, another toll had to be paid. We arrived in Milford, Pennsylvania, and were lucky enough to have arrived on the same day they were having their outdoor sidewalk festival. Basically, people set up booths and fill them with the junk they made in their spare time and people in the town fill the sidewalks and streets gawking at it. US 6 goes through the town and in order to conserve time we took US 6 west two miles to get to I-84 quicker. Once on I-84, it is eight miles to the Delaware River and instead of crossing into New Jersey this time we would be in New York outside of Port Jervis.

Highway to Boston

I-84 basically goes east-west above New York City passing about 10 miles north of West Point. We stopped in Lake Carmel to eat some lunch at a bar which serves food, but it was obvious that most of its revenue comes from the bar patrons. Dartboards and other bar apparel are strewn about the place.

Before long we were in Connecticut and passing through Danbury. Then it was Waterbury and after this town we got off to get gas and pick up something for Linda and Tom. We got them a little Norfolk Island Pine and then we were on our way east toward Hartford, the state capital.

Before long we would be in Massachusetts and on the Mass Pike (I-90), as it’s called, and at Linda and Tom’s via I-290 north to Marlborough. We got to their house around 7:30 p.m. and relaxed, talked, and ate dinner. Tom cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill in a light drizzle. We both were in bed by about 11 o’clock after planning what we were going to do tomorrow.